the rain collects outside the door

It rained pretty much all night; I could hear it every time I woke up. It's too bad I couldn't open a window and listen to it properly.
December's been busy so far, both at work and at home. I covered for my work spouse this whole last week, on top of a full week with my own titles. I finished my last freelance project for the year. I've made good progress on editing my novel, and on critiquing someone else's. I've also been sorting through the apartment, getting rid of some things, choosing some other things to go to storage. My band concert was a week ago, so I was practicing a lot up until that, as well. None of this is surprising, though; I'm adept at keeping myself busy. And now it's the season of holiday parties, of people wanting to squeeze in one more hangout before I leave for the holidays, so there's a lot on my plate socially. I enjoy seeing my friends, and it's all going to be fun, but it's still a fine balance between the social, the work, and the writing.
A couple more books to report:
65) Hunger by Jackie Morse Kessler. This book is wicked good! It's about an anorexic teenager named Lisabeth who becomes Famine, one of the four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Kessler doesn't shy away from really showing how eating disorders affect people. Lisabeth is an interesting heroine, learning who she is and how to be strong over the course of the book. This isn't for the squeamish (Lisabeth's bulimic friend gets a graphic scene about her eating disorder) but I really think this is a fresh, interesting YA urban fantasy. Definitely recommended, and I can't wait for the sequel, Rage, to come out next April!
66) Averno by Louise Glück. This amazing collection of poems, Glück dives deep into the story of Persephone. I think that these poems are beautiful, as is the way she digs so deep into the Greek mythology to unearth new layers. Absolutely recommended for anyone who likes poetry or Greek mythology.
67) Life Sucks by Jessica Abel, Gabriel Soria, and Warren Pleece. This graphic novel is about a vegetarian vampire named Dave who is the night manager at the Last Stop mini-mart. He falls for a Goth girl named Rosa, but she's mortal. Then total-jerk, surfer-blond vampire Wes decides he wants Rosa, and the story takes off from there. This was a fun run. I wasn't convinced in the first few pages, but I'm glad I gave it a chance. The art is good and the story is fun, with no conventional happy ending. I'm glad the story didn't get tied off perfectly; I think that would have detracted from it. Anyway, I really liked this one.
And now, I'm off to check my e-mail, wake my partner-in-crime, and get ready to head out into the rain to see a play. Happy Sunday!

at long last

Home from my Thanksgiving travels and finally feeling somewhat functional again. For those of you who don't know, my partner-in-crime and I went to Las Vegas to spend the holiday with my sister and our grandparents. My parents surprised us all by showing up as well, which was fun. In a nutshell, there was great food, great company, great booze one night, some good kitty time, some shopping, and some gambling. It was all fun.
Work isn't that strenuous this week, which is great. I'm trying desperately to wrap up my radio play episodes and make more progress on my novel edits. I'd love to finish that in the next week or so. May take a break from the clarinet (after the Saturday concert, of course!) to give myself that smidge more time for the novel. And speaking of, I don't think I've mentioned it here yet, but I did figure out what I'm writing next. It's a bit of a cheat, but I'm excited about it: I'm going to turn Emmelina and the Rat King into a novel. It's around 15,000 words right now, and I'm going to aim for 60,000 words for a middle grade novel. So that's January-March, during which I'll also be submitting Superheroes as well as doing some brainstorming and research for the witch/ghost series, which I'll start in April. I know, I know, overachiever. I can't help it. There's just so much I want to do!
I read one book while I was away for Thanksgiving. 64) Birthmarked by Caragh O'Brien. It takes places in a near-future, dystopian society in which the poor people are required to give up a certain number of their babies to the rich people each month. The main character is Gaia, a teenage midwife, who lives happy among the poor people outside the city wall until her parents are arrested, throwing her entire life into chaos. It's quite a good read. Dystopian YA seems to be pretty popular these days, with books like this one and the Hunger Games trilogy popping up. While this one isn't as complex as the Hunger Games books, it's definitely worth checking out.
And now, I think it's time to go. I need to consult my Christmas shopping list, and then perhaps pick up a bottle of wine before I meet my partner-in-crime for a run to Trader Joe's.
Good night!

just another sunday

I actually slept in today, for once. I know that sounds silly, but I tend to set the alarm for a reasonable hour, even on weekends. There are twenty-four usable hours in every day, you know!
Anyway. I had a nice lazy morning. Big breakfast, coffee, and a good book. (Okay, plus a little editing on my novel.) Speaking of, I've got several books to share:
57) The Magicians by Lev Grossman. I really enjoyed this book! Grossman starts with making fun of some contemporary YA fantasy concepts (think Harry Potter and Narnia), then goes on to turn those concepts on their ears. Completely entertaining. Both the story and the writing are good. I do have some small dissatisfactions with the ending, which I'm hoping will be adequately addressed in the sequel next year. But overall, I think this is a good book. Definitely a keeper. And I'll absolutely be checking out whatever else Grossman comes up with!
58) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I'm surprised it took me so long to get around to reading this book. It is, on one level, a book about a book, which I always enjoy. More than that, it's a story about stories, and a very well-crafted one. The intertwined storylines are equally gripping, most of the characters are easy to empathize with (except for the bookstore employee, to me; he just irritated me most of the time), and the writing is lovely. This book is definitely a keeper, and I would definitely recommend it.
59) Kiss Me Deadly, an anthology of paranormal love stories. This was a fun read. Some authors I really enjoy---Maggie Steifvater, Melissa Marr, Diana Peterfreund, to name a couple---contributed to this collection, which is partially why I picked it up. I will say that I felt the writing in the collection was uneven, but not terribly so (I only skipped one story). For anyone who enoys paranormal stories or love stories or both, consider this one. It's a keeper for me.
60) Runaways #2 continues the story begun in the first book, about a group of teenagers on the run after they discover their parents are actually supervillains. In this one they encounter robbers, vampires, and good guys hired to chase them down! This is a fun series about superheroes and supervillains. Check it out; it's worth it.
61) Give Up the Ghost by Megan Crewe. This is a fun paranormal YA book about a girl who starts seeing ghosts after her older sister dies, and how she finally starts to spend time with the living instead of the dead. I was skeptical when I picked it up, but the characters quickly won me over. No one was perfect; they were all regular people dealing with regular problems. The high school characters were believably written; they weren't too extreme on the good kid or bad kid end of things. This isn't a keeper for me, simply because I don't know that I would pick it up for a reread, but I am sending it to my oldest goddaughter for her to read. I would definitely recommend this for YA readers.
62) Shake the Devil Off by Ethan Brown. This is true crime, which is a genre I don't tend to enjoy. However, this book was well researched and well executed, and was very careful to not portray the people involved in the crime as monsters. This is the story of Zach and Addie, a couple who, between the two of them, weathered time in the military, sexual abuse, teenage parenthood, alcoholism, and Hurricane Katrina, and didn't make it out the other side. Beyond the crime, Brown discusses a lot of research that has been done on PTSD, the willingness of military people to seek out help for things like PTSD, and the similarities between Iraq war vets and Katrina vets. This book really delved into the "why" of things, not just the "who" and "how." I may not be a true crime reader, but I'll certainly recommend this to anyone who is interested in any of the topics addressed within this story.
63) Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked by Catherine Orenstein. This book delves deep into the many versions of "Little Red Riding Hood" out there and discusses the cultural underpinnings and representations of those versions. For someone interested in the study of fairy tale and folklore like me, this is a great, focused study on one of the best-known fairy tales out there. Orenstein deals with several widely varied versions of the tale, from the Grimm brothers to Perrault to Anne Sexton to porn to the movie Freeway. Definitely a keeper!
And now, I should get back to my to-do list for today. I've got to add several more pages to one of my radio play episodes today, do more packing for Thanksgiving, do a little freelancing, and hit a book release party in Brooklyn at 6:30 p.m. I'll try to get back here again before I fly away to Vegas early Wednesday morning, but don't hold it against me if I don't.
Happy Sunday!

if i seem to be confused

Last weekend didn't turn out quite as expected; I spent a fair portion of Saturday feeling miserable from some sort of twenty-four-hour bug, and Sunday recovering. While I did do some of the things I wanted to get done, it wasn't the relaxing two days at home I'd anticipated. Oh, well. Now my partner-in-crime's sick, and his is definitely more than twenty-four-hour bug. 'Tis the season, I suppose.
Tonight is a kid lit trivia night, which promises to be entertaining even if I'm not helpful to my team. Tomorrow night, a birthday party, and Saturday night, maybe a play. Social butterfly, that's me. One of these weeks I really am just going to stay home (except for the day job, of course) and write. I'm making good progress on editing the Superheroes novel, but I'd like to make faster progress. I'll get it done sooner or later, I know. I'd love to get it done before I go away for Thanksgiving. We'll see if I can knock it out by then.
On my lunch break today I bought a pair of Frye high heels. They're beautiful!
Tomorrow or Friday, I promise an update on books I've read lately, but for now, I've got to get out of here for trivia. Have a good night, everybody!

whenever i'm alone with you

This is me on the weekend with no freelancing to do. Thank goodness! The last couple of weeks were a disaster due to one project taking substantially longer than I'd estimated, and another coming in earlier than anticipated. Ah, well. The important part is that I got it all done. And I am determined to make this weekend lovely. Some good work time on Emmelina, on the Superheroes novel, and on the radio play. Some down time hanging out with my partner-in-crime. A birthday party to hit tonight, and then maybe a friend over tomorrow for a while. Sure, somewhere in there I need to do things like laundry and grocery shopping, but still, it's going to be a nice weekend. With no work!
I'm still torn on what to write next. I know, I know, I shouldn't get ahead of myself, but my brain always starts considering the next book at this point in the process. I've been talking about the witch/ghost series for a while, and I do really want to do that, but I haven't sorted out the overarching storyline for it, which I need to have firmly in mind before I can do much writing. And meanwhile, in the underside of my mind, a sort of Gothic noir urban fantasy is taking shape, all angular, rain-wrapped city buildings and gritty, narrow streets. Two of the characters are stalking me at odd moments. Here's the thing, though: I don't know if I'm a good enough writer yet to tackle that one. Maybe I just need to keep scribbling out notes on that one for now while I tackle the witch series.
Anyway, time for a quick breakfast and then a walk in the park with LG. Happy weekend, everybody!

Happy Samhain!

Happy Samhain, everyone! Tonight I will lift a glass of wine in honor of my friends, my family, and those who have passed on. I will set out a place at dinner for the spirits of my loved ones, and invite them in to join us at our table. I'll do a long ritual with candles, incense, and herbs, where I give thanks for the good harvest this year, speak with the dead, do divinations for the coming year, and cast out what bad habits and weaknesses I can.
Samhain is one of the two times of the year when the veil between the worlds is thinnest, which is why it is for communing with the dead and divining the future. In the myth cycle of the god and the goddess, this is when the god dies and the goddess mourns for him, but knows he will be reborn again at Yule. so it's a serious holiday, but not too serious. There will be pumpkin pie, and wine, and good conversation. And I can't wait.
Blessed be!

my honey bear is half full

Strangely, I have a cough. I don't feel ill in any other way. The cough has been present for three days or so, now, and I am already tired of it. Yes, before you ask, I am drinking loads of tea with honey in it, and taking my vitamin C.
Anyway. Slowly making progress on editing my novel and sending it out to readers for some outside input. I took on some freelance again recently, after doing the mother of all copyediting projects in September, so there's that. More money is good. And one of the projects is something I've been excitedly waiting for.
Samhain is right around the corner, all of a sudden! I need to sit down and have a good think about how I'd like to celebrate it this year. (I don't know if you all remember, but last year, my partner-in-crime and I fell asleep on the couch for several hours just after dinner, which sort of knocked out any ritual we were going to manage that evening!)
One book, quickly: 56) Kraken by China Mieville. Quirky, British, sort-of-surreal urban fantasy. But distinctly not what you think when you hear the phrase "urban fantasy." I don't want to say any more, for fear of spoilers when I may be giving this to someone as a holiday gift, so I'll just say that it's wildly different and interesting, and definitely worth reading.
There are other books percolating in the back of my brain. I managed to ignore them while writing the first draft of my YA superhero novel, but now they're creeping up into my forebrain again, whispering to me their stories. Can't I just take a few months off to go live in a remote location and write them all? Sigh. Soon enough, I suppose.
And now, back to the work, as there is far too much of it for me to shirk any more this afternoon.

more, more, more

That's the way life feels right now. There's just more, more, more of everything than I'd like there to be. I really just want to hide at home and at coffee shops fro a few days and zing through editing my novel. Oh, well.
Anyway. Lots to cover, not a lot of time.
On Sunday October 3rd I did in fact go to see Neil Gaiman in conversation with Dana Goodyear. He was brilliant, all humble and droll and creative, in a lovely British accent. He spoke about how some of his books originated, and some of what he saw when road-tripping around America to research American Gods, and writing a Doctor Who episode, and screened his eight-and-a-half-minute silent film for the audience, which has never been seen in America (outside a few illegal posts on Youtube, that is). I felt absolutely inspired by the end of it, both to seriously get down to business with my writing and to go on a road trip!
Two days later I went to a New York Review of Science Fiction reading to see Catherynne Valente and Seanan Mcguire. This was also amazing. Cat and Seanan felt like two sides of a coin, to me, two opposite approaches to life that somehow mesh and meld into a beautiful camaraderie between them. They're both good readers, with good sense of humor, and I really need to read more of their books.
This last weekend, October 9 and 10, I went to New York Comic Con. NYCC is surreal and overwhelming and just loads of fun. Two whole days of comic books and video games and too many Poison Ivys and lots of storm troopers and books and steampunk jewelry and inside jokes and costumes. Pretty great. I bought some comics, got some free comics, and bought some art, but mostly I spent my money on perfume. That's right. Perfume. Because, for the first time ever, I was at an event that Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab was also at. I was in heaven! I've adored their perfume for a while now, but it's so hit-or-miss to order from the website based on description. Here, I could smell anything I wanted to! I overloaded. I sniffed perfume for a good hour. It was fabulous. If you're curious, I bought Door for me, and Sunbird for my sister. And got loads of free samples for spending my hard-earned pennies on their wares. Seriously, I think that made my month!
Nearly time to head home, so I'd best get to the books . . .
53) Palimpsest by Catherynne M. Valente. Beautiful, lush, imaginative. Her writing just blows me away. I wish I could be half the writer she is. I need the rest of her novels. All of you, if you have ANY appreciation at all for a good fantasy novel, run to the nearest bookstore and pick this up. It's brilliant. Great characters, intricate world-building, and the language is some of the most interesting I've seen for some time.
54) Duff by Kody Keplinger. I'll be honest: I didn't have high expectations for this book. Young debut author, high-school material. It's not my usual thing, really. Which is why I was pleasantly surprised to find myself voraciously sucking this one down. It's a lot of fun! The characters are believable. The author, young though she may be, has a good sense of who she's writing about and who she's writing for. If you like YA stuff, this is definitely recommended.
55) The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Having not read any of his books for adults (I know, I know!) I didn't have an opinion at all going into Zafon's first YA book. I enjoyed this. Good structure, good characters, good level of creepiness. I would recommend it to YA readers. But for me, I don't think it's a keeper. Mostly because I don't think I'll reread it. But it's a fun read!
And with that, it's time for my weekend to officially begin. Happy autumn, everybody!

Friday restlessness

I don't know about you all, but autumn makes me restless. It's just starting to set in; the warm weather staved it off for a while, but it's starting to undeniably get cooler out. Leaves are changing, storms are blowing through the city, there's a different feel to the air. It just makes me feel . . . well, I'm not even sure how to explain it. Like I don't belong anywhere, but I belong everywhere at once. Like there's a brilliant adventure waiting somewhere if I hop on a train and just go. Like there's too much and too little time all at once.
Anyway. One book to share, really quickly. 52) Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. I loved this gritty urban fantasy. If that's your scene, check it out! Apparently there are two more books out about the main character, October Daye. I need to get them. She's easy to empathize with, and believable. And I will admit, I totally didn't guess who the bad guy was until shortly before the big reveal. But you know, sometimes I don't want to guess. I'd rather be surprised. Anyway, great book. Definitely a keeper!
A couple strange dreams lately. One was several nights ago: I was staying in a huge swanky hotel, and I was some sort of investigator. I was prowling around through other people's rooms, looking through their stuff. In one room I found the dead body of a man in a business suit, only to realize that it was made of wax. Then I decided I needed to figure out why the death of this guy was faked, and by who, and who he was, etc. So I kept poking around. (I feel like there was something in here about a cat following me around. At some point there was also something about a huge staircase leading up tot he floors of rooms from the lobby.) Then I was outside, leaving I think, and this horse-drawn open cart pulled up, with two gypsy/circus folk in it, a man and a woman. She could tell the future, but didn't want to. I think she used a bowl of clear water or a mirror to do it. Maybe cards, as well? Hmm. Last night, I dreamed I was living in a big house that had a bunch of ghosts living in it. They were my family, who were all dead. Sibling spats, etc., like you expect when an extended family lives together. Anyway, these other ghosts showed up to try to press my family into servitude. I was hiding from them but trying not to leave or starve or anything. They saw me at the last, but I managed to lock them outside of the house so they couldn't get me. (I think there was a bit with a pb&j sandwich, and a particular sibling fight, under the spruce tree outside the front door. . . .)
This weekend is looking a little busy, but in a good way. After work today, going shopping with my friend K, then heading home to tidy up my radio play episodes and send them to the grand poobah of that project. Tomorrow morning is at-home stuff, then yoga at 10 am, then writing. Then grocery shopping, and then a new friend is coming over for the evening, hurray! Sunday I'm going to see Neil Gaiman speak at the New Yorker Festival, and I am so excited for that. It's going to be great. I may stand in line for him to sign something for me, for the first time ever. After that there's a Stone Brewery event.
And with that, it's time to get ready to jet. Have a good weekend, everyone!

Mabon

Happy Mabon, everyone! Yes, it's Harvest Festival time again, the second of the year. Now the days and nights are roughly equal in length; we give thanks for the sunlight and pay respect to the impending winter. This is a time of balance, and a time for recharging your personal battery. It's also a time to have a feast with close friends and good wine!
Last night I dreamed that I was on a big boat of some sort; my partner-in-crime was there too, along with an old coworker, S, who was pregnant in the dream, and man other people. Our boat had been taken over by pirates, and we were being treated as slaves, being forced to do their bidding and fighting with each other for scraps of food. It was terrible. But gradually they began to treat us better, and eventually they let us go somewhere (not home, of course) where we established a town. The kids were happy playing in the dirt streets in packs, S's pregnancy was just fine (I took pregnant pictures of her with a digital camera she hid from the pirates, and she was so happy she cried).
A separate dream last night; I was made to enter a dark room where a body had been laid to rest. I had been washed and dressed carefully for this. I entered the room and laid down with the body, pillowing my head upon his chest and placing my feet across his ankles. There was a hanging sculpture made of many small bones hanging over us in the shape of some sort of bird or reptile. I wasn't sad or distraught. I stayed there, in the dark, alone with this body, willing myself to die so I could accompany him on his journey, but couldn't make myself follow him. After what seemed a long time, I got up and snuck out of the room. I knew that if anyone found me my life was forfeit. I snuck into a small room in the back of the house (a bathroom, I think) to hide and get some water. My friend A found me and, while she was very happy I was alive, decided she needed to get em out of the house as quickly as possible. Somehow, she got my parents to arrive very quickly in a car that I then crept into the backseat of when no one was looking, and we drove away. I mostly remember feeling both guilty and relieved that I didn't make myself die.
More books:
49) New Amsterdam by Elizabeth Bear. I just love Bear's work, and this one is no exception. A sort of noir detective/steampunk/vampire novel, I enjoyed the cross-pollination of genres and ideas quite a bit. Definitely recommended to anyone who likes any of those genres!
50) Runaways #1 created by Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona. This is the first graphic novel in a series, originally comics then collected into book form. I really enjoyed this. I thought the premise was different---a group of teens discover their parents are supervillains and run away, discovering their own powers in the process---and entertaining. The art is great, too! I can't wait to find more of these books to read. A keeper, for sure.
51) On Writing by Stephen King. This was an interesting read, more so for the craft of writing stuff than the memoir sections, although some of the memoir stuff was fun. I particularly enjoyed reading about how he approaches his writing; that was definitely the most memorable part of this, for me. Of course he talks about his childhood, and about the accident in 1999. He also spends a lot of time on the mechanics of writing--- the "toolbox," as he says. All of which is somewhat interesting. The section relating his opinion of writing workshops is amusing, too. I'm glad I read this, but if it were my copy I'd read, it wouldn't be a keeper. This is not the sort of thing I would revisit. Worth reading, though!
Anyway. I should probably get to work. Things to do, as always. Happy Mabon, again!

sex and books

Two good topics for today's brief foray into blogland, don't you think? I'll start with the usual; I've got four books to mention.
45) Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. This is a funny, funny memoir! Poor Rhoda. Her husband leaves her for Bob from Gay.com, and the same week she's in a serious car accident. So what does she do? She goes home to stay with her family while she convalesces. Her family are Mennonites. This book made me laugh out loud, a lot. It made me read whole sections aloud to whoever I was around. Of particular humor: her mother; the eating-boogers-named-after-state-capitols-while-on-a-family-drive; her list of requirements for men; her twelve-step recovery process. I'd recommend this book to anybody who likes memoir, or who likes to laugh, or who's had a rough relationship. Okay, I would just recommend it to anybody. Any book that makes me laugh that much should be widely read! (And this one is, I think it's a NYT bestseller.)
46) The Man Who Loved Books Too Much by Allison Hoover Bartlett. I enjoyed this book about one man's obsession with possessing rare books he could never afford, but . . . I don't know. Not a keeper for me. It was good, well done, well written and researched. This is just the sort of thing that I don't go back to. If anybody out there is interested in book thieves, the rare book world, journalism about books, etc. then pick this title up!
47) Ash by Malinda Lo. This YA retelling of Cinderella is beautiful. I love the characters. I love the choices they have to make. I love how there is hope, throughout everything. (Also, this book really made me miss women.)
48) Dreamdark: Silksinger by Laini Taylor. Someday, when I'm a grown-up writer, I hope to write books half as lovely as Laini Taylor. Her descriptive ability is just incredible! And I defy any of you out there to not love the Dreamdark books, not to love the fairies with their big hearts and crazy courage. This is the second book, and I've adored them both. These are books I will recommend, and read, over and over, and over. This book introduces some new characters, Whisper and Hirik, while bringing back several from the first book, Magpie, Talon, and the crows. Just thinking about it makes me want to go reread it already! These are that good!
On to topic number two . . . I really just wanted to say that there is some interesting stuff online about sex right now. One of my favorite authors is hosting a great conversation on the male orgasm in the comments of one of her blog entries right now, and there's also this.
Interesting stuff, yeah?

hazy Friday

Fall is finally in the air, and I'm loving it. The humidity has dissipated; the last couple mornings have been cool and crisp and just a little blustery between a perfect robin's-egg blue sky. This sort of weather makes me feel better, even though I am totally overwhelmed with commitments right now, between personal goals, freelance work, and shared projects.

• submit Nor -- DONE (although I could do it more, with different agents)
  
• write superhero novel -- done. It took me a month longer than I wanted it to, but that's just fine. I still finished draft zero in four months. I'll start editing it shortly. Still hoping to wrap this one up entirely by the end of the year.
  
• write first novel in urban fantasy series -- this will happen in the fall. At this point, I doubt I'll manage an entire draft, but I think I can make a good start.
  
• outline entire urban fantasy series -- working on it. I've got partial ideas for each book, but need to come up with the underlying big story. I'm going to really spend some time on this in October.
  
• write three short stories -- one done, one partially written, one outlined
  
• edit the two shorts I wrote last year -- one done, one two-thirds done
  

Getting there. I think I can manage it all, if I don't hold myself to finishing the first book in the UF series. I'm fine with making a good start on it.
And now, on to the weekend. Happy Friday, everyone!

books, perhaps

I wish I could devote more time to this, but in the effort to catch up, I'll just do brief mentions of the other books I've recently read. Ready?
36) Soulless by Gail Carriger. I absolutely adored this book. Fun, snarky work, in a great historical urban fantasy setting. Can't wait to read more by her! Keeper, for sure.
37) Blacksad by Juan Diaz Canales and Juanjo Guarnido. This graphic novel is fabulous brooding noir. Thank you, what-if boy, for immediately seeing how much I would love it, and for getting me a copy! I recommend this one to everybody who likes noir and/or graphic novels. Keeper.
38) Linger by Maggie Stiefvater. Oh, what do I even say about the sequel to Shiver? I love them equally. They are both amazing. Linger blew me away. I wept over this book in the Dallas airport as I finished it with Snow Patrol in my ears. SO GOOD. I can't believe that I have to wait for the third book in the trilogy. Maggie, you're killing me with these beautiful, aching books!
39) Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. Another amazing book. This is the first in a new trilogy, set a couple hundred years before the events of the Mortal Instruments books. And holy cow it was good! I'm just bummed I have to wait another year before the next one. If you dig urban fantasy stuff and aren't familiar with Cassie's work, please check her out. Her books are great!
40) The Spirit Thief by Rachel Aaron. This was fun. I got a galley at BEA; the guy who gave it to me told me that it has a Princess Bride vibe to it. I Was skeptical. But he was right. It's in the sense of humor, and the classic (but not cliche) characters. The thief, the sorceress, the swordsman, the king, the evil brother. I fully enjoyed this and would recommend it to people who prefer their fantasy to be a little less urban and a little more . . . not epic, but more clearly fantasy.
41) Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins. I thought that Suzanne would have a hard time living up to the expectations set by The Hunger Games, the first book in the trilogy, but this book was very well done. It's definitely a middle book, dealing with the aftermath of the first book while setting up the events of the third. But it absolutely holds up as a stellar piece of writing. I am glad, since it ends on a cliffhanger, that I waited to read it until just before the final book in the trilogy came out.
42) Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins. The conclusion of the Hunger Games trilogy. This book just blew me away from the get-go. It was hard to watch Katniss figure everything out and try to deal with it. That poor, poor girl. Every time I thought I had things figured out, Suzanne would hit me with another twist. This whole trilogy is so well executed it makes me jealous! And the whole ending . . . I finished this book in the Denver Airport a few days ago, and got a lot of funny looks from people as I wept my way through the end. I'm not going to lie: this is a hard book to read. There is a lot of tragedy and death and terror. But it's a damn satisfying ending, when you get there.
43) A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horwitz. This history of pre-Pilgrim America was a lot of fun. Did you know that the Vikings, the Spanish, and the French all discovered North America before the English got here? Yeah. Tony Horwitz went on a bunch of crazy road trips, following the routes of the intrepid explorers of America. He spent time with historical reenactment actors. He did a lot fo research in old, musty libraries. And I really dig his conclusion, that the mythology of how our country was founded is more important to the character and history of America than the truth is. Truth is facts, but mythology is belief, and that's a hard thing to sway. So, this was fun, but not a keeper, since I doubt I'll reread it.
44) Wolves & Honey by Susan Brind Morrow. I love Susan Brind Morrow's writing. This is the second book I've read by her, and in it she meanders through the natural history of upstate New York, weaving in stories of a couple men who were very important to her as she grew up in upstate, as well as some linguistic and etymological background. She deals specifically, no surprise here, with wolves and honeybees in upstate New York. Morrow's work will always be on my shelves for the spell she weaves with her words. It's like a painting; I can almost step into it, almost hear the owls and coyotes, almost smell the blossoms of the apple trees.
And that's that for now. Lots of freelancing to do this weekend, but never fear, I'll squeeze in a little time for some writing, and tomorrow I think we're going to Governor's Island for a while, which will be fun. Happy weekend, everyone!

away from myself

I'm in Seattle for a long weekend right now, and am having a very nice time just relaxing and not doing a whole lot. Went to a great used bookstore with my friend K and her husband B, and bought too many books, darn! I have to say, overall, this has been a good reading year. I mean, I always like the books I finish, but this year I have read a lot of books that I love. The kind of love that means I shove copies into other people's hands and say "You've GOT to read this, it's so amazing!" So that's great. I know that I'm super behind on my book blogging these days, but today I just can't be bothered. Eventually you, dear readers, will find out what books have occupied my (small amounts of) spare time, but today is not that day.
Last night I went to the wedding party for a couple of good friends of mine, and it was lovely. A few other friends were up from Oregon for it, so I got to catch up with them, and there was good food, good wine, great company, all in a lovely backyard with music and candlelight and a gentle rain. It was perfectly lovely.
There's a lot in my head right now. Story ideas, dream fragments, books I'm reading . . . K and I have stayed up late drinking wine and talking both nights I've been here so far, so there's a lot of those conversations tangled up in my head too. Serious illness and history and people and relationships and books and just big life concepts. It's great, but my head feels a little overly full. (The wine hangover probably isn't helping that, either!)
The end of summer is approaching. Only a couple more weeks of summer hours before work goes back to normal. Only several more weeks until the weather really starts to cool off, and after a couple days in Seattle I'm REALLY ready for the humidity to go away in New York.
This fall promises to be fairly quiet. Not a lot of travel, not many houseguests. Just me, my partner-in-crime, and my writing. Of course, things never turn out that simply, do they? Still, I'm looking forward to it.
Anyway. I should probably go wake up K from her nap and start talking about dinner plans. Getting hungry already! Have a good Sunday evening out there, everybody.

but i like the way you play

This weekend I read a bunch of freelancing, managed to not catch a single fish while deep-sea fishing, got a little drunk at a birthday party, and laid on a beach. What did you all do?
I'm behind on my book blogging, as per usual. So while I try to prod my brain into disgorging the dream I had this morning, here are a couple of nutshell book reviews:
33) Some Girls by Jillian Lauren. You know, usually I'm not a big fan of memoirs, but this one really got me. It's about a young struggling actress who gradually falls down the slippery slope into sex work, and ends up accepting a job that turns out to be a position in a harem in Brunei. She goes on from there to talk about the politics of the harem, and the royal family of Brunei, including the prince who the girls are vying for the attention of. I really enjoyed this book. I thought it was well-written, thought-provoking, and certainly an entertaining story. Highly recommended!
34) Leviathan by Scott Westerfeld. This was my first exposure to Westerfeld's work (I own Uglies and Pretties but haven't gotten around to them yet), and you know what? This book is wicked. Great alternative history/steampunk storyline set around the beginning of WWII, with a total cliffhanger at the end that leaves you clamoring for more. I will definitely pick up the sequel as soon as it's released (October!), and will also definitely read more of his work. I highly recommend this, not just for you but for every kid you know over the age of twelve or so.
35) The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Everyone loves this book. Everyone, that is, except for me. No spoilers here, in case someone out there hasn't read it yet, don't worry. The story is interesting, overall. But to be perfectly frank I found the writing to be a little excessive and the pace uneven. What's more, there were two major instances where Lisbeth's actions didn't gel with her personality AT ALL to my mind, and the horrific acts of violence scattered throughout the quiet narrative were a big turnoff as well. (And no, Lisbeth's revenge after that one scene didn't make me feel better about it; instead it made me feel that Lisbeth was no better a person than the individual who harmed her.) (Slight spoiler ahead!) My last complaint is that all three of the major female characters slept with the Blomkvist, the main guy, and I just found that unbelievable. I have to say that this book is distinctly not a keeper for me, nor will I be reading the sequels.
Okay, what little I can recall of my dream last night . . . I was at a party at a bar, for my younger sister's wedding (which is weird because in real life she got married in 2003). She was also heavily pregnant in my dream. Anyway, a ton of us were there including some of my NYC friends, like K and LG. At some point we realized that we'd missed the cars we arranged for, and were going to be late for Rose's wedding. So we had to run for it. I was with my sister the bride-to-be, in our long fancy gowns, running down dark city streets to get to the church. At one point we even scaled a wall, which was difficult for her but she managed just fine. And managed to get a little ahead of me. I got my shoes all muddy and nasty, and then lost one of them and spent precious minutes looking for it. When I got to the church everyone else was already there in the back rooms. I spent a few minutes trying to fix my appearance, then spent more time looking for my shoe in that room (which doesn't make sense, really, since I lost it while running) and managed to miss the whole damn ceremony. I felt terrible about it. Everyone left me there, looking for my shoe, while they did a brief ceremony and left. There was also something earlier on about some kittens, but I'm not sure if that was at the bar or at the church, just that for some reason we had to have these kittens present at the ceremony so we spent an inordinate amount of time trying to catch them.
Writing goals for this month:

• Finish episode six of the radio play.
• Edit Emmelina.
• Write my New Orleans voodoo story.
• Agent research.

Totally doable. And now it's time to get ready to head out. Happy Monday!

august already

Summer always goes too quickly. Although, with the heat and humidity in NYC this year, I'm looking forward to autumn. Summer Fridays are really what goes to quickly! Ah, those lazy Fridays at home with nothing to do and no one to answer to. . . . Of course, it doesn't actually turn out that way most of the time, but I can dream, right?
This is supposed to be an effort in speed-blogging, since it's time to go home, but I've got loads of books to talk about. So, in a nutshell:
31) Orpheus Lost by Janette Turner Hospital. This was good and interesting. The writing was good. It follows two people in love in post-September 11 America. She's American, he's not. The love story is beautiful but then it descends into the underworld with politics, fear, paranoia, and a really messed-up character from the woman's past. The man is a musician and I adored the parts of the narrative that spoke about the music. But that wasn't enough for me to keep it; I struggled with the fear and pain and sheer angst on these pages. Which was maybe the point of the book. It's very plausible, normal everyday people becoming accidentally caught up in political events that have larger meanings. I do recommend this book, but as I said, not a keeper for me.
32) The Buried Book by David Damrosch. I really enjoyed this book! It's about the discovery of the epic of Gilgamesh, the loss of it in ancient times, and the rediscovery in recent. Totally fun, interesting, and accessible. This encompasses archaeology, cultural studies, ancient literature, and the actual story of Gilgamesh. Great stuff! I totally recommend this to anyone who read Gilgamesh in college or for fun, or is into ancient literature or archaeology.
That's all; it's time to go. More books tomorrow!
Happy Monday!

she walks through a land of her own making

Draft zero of my teenage superhero novel is done!! I finished just now at 78,470 words! And in only four months! I feel pretty good about it. But now I'm putting it away for a month so I can edit it with fresh eyes. August is for radio play episodes and short stories and agent research, I think.
So, that's that. I did it!
More blogging to come soon about books and dreams and such. I've been pretty writing-oriented lately, so haven't really taken the time for much else. August will be much more relaxed.
Happy weekend!

balance is grace standing still

I'm here to talk about a book. Not just any book, either. I've read a lot of good books so far this year, and I've read a couple exception books. But number 30, the halfway mark in how many books I'm going to read this year, is the best book I've read this year. And that's saying a lot.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is that book. It absolutely blew my mind. The language is luminous and beautiful and lush. You can feel the ache, the yearning in the main characters for something that they know they will never have. It hurts to read this book, in the best possible way. Sam and Grace read like people I would want to hang out with, and the relationship between the two of them is hard. But . . . I don't even know how to say all the things I feel about this book. I was trying to tell a friend about it and she said, "So, it's what Twilight was trying to be." And that's sort of right. I mean, in a sense, yes, it is a teenage love story between a mortal and a supernatural being. But Twilight felt trite to me. An emasculated vampire who wants to be with (and eat) a girl because of how she smells? Yikes. Shiver, on the other hand . . . Oh, it gave me chills. It's visceral and raw and full of hardship and wanting and confusion. I held my breath for most of this book, and wept at the end. It's that good. This is one of those books that I think everybody should read, regardless of whether or not you usually read YA or paranormal. This transcends all of that, and is really just an amazing love story.

off in the night

Well, it's been too long, once again. I've been busy, of course. Isn't that always my excuse? There are a couple posts I've been putting off writing, but it's time to nail them down and let them go so I don't get buried in things to talk about. . . .
I'm sure all of you know this by now, but my cat, Abigail, passed away on June 23. She was fourteen years old, and had been with my family for most of them. She was a great cat with a big personality (and a big appetite, until the end!). When she lived with me, she slept either on or behind my knees almost every night. There are still mornings when I wake up expecting her to be there. I left her behind when I moved to the big city because I couldn't bear to force her into living her life indoors, and I wish that I could have seen her more than once or twice a year since then. I wish she'd held on for another month, then I could've seen her one more time. Ah, well. Wherever she is, she's happy, and not suffering. She's probably in kitty heaven with the other cats my family has lost in the last few years, looking down at us while she eats her favorite foods and smiling.

she climbs the mountain

Official word count on YA novel: 51,375 words!!! Yeah!!! Good progress. My goal is currently a little crazy---80,000 by the end of July---but right now, I feel like I can really do it.
Now on to a little freelancing, and a little writing for a radio play episode. Regularly scheduled blogging will recommence soon, I promise.
Happy Wednesday, everybody!

more books

Without further ado . . .
26) Whitechapel Gods by S. M. Peters. I enjoyed this; it's sort of steampunk/revolution noir. But it's not a keeper for me. The story was well constructed, I was fascinated by the religion Peters created, and the action was exciting, but I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters. If you dig steampunk books, give this one a shot.
27) Achilles by Elizabeth Cook. A reimagining of Achilles' life. I enjoyed this quite a bit, and would definitely recommend it to anyone who likes classic literature. But I probably won't reread it, so it's not a keeper.
28) The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. There's a lot I could say about this one. It won a Nebula Award, which is partially why I picked it up. The futuristic vision of Bangkok is great, the political strings running throughout the story were great, as was the underlying commentary on the concept of genetically engineering plants/diseases/people. But. I'm not sure what the overall point of the story was. And I really felt like the male characters were well fleshed out while the few female characters present were stock characters. They felt flat to me, and somewhat cliche. That frustrated me. I wanted those women to make choices, to act. Instead they just reacted, over and over again. So this one is not a keeper for me.
29) Daemon's Mark by Caitlin Kittredge. The fifth and final book in the Nocturne City series. Loved it! Good story, and I love the characters. I also appreciate the fact that everything is not all neatly tied up in a bow at the end. Things are still messy. The main character, Luna, still has some big issues to work through. The happyish ending in this book was much more realistic than a happy ending would have been, and I'm glad that the writer was ballsy enough to let the ending be the way it needed to be. I dig this whole series; anybody who likes urban fantasy should definitely check out Caitlin's books.
There is one more book I've read, but I think it needs its own post. I'm still reeling from it. But I've hit thirty books before the end of June, which puts me on track for reading sixty this year.
Oh, important milestone: I hit 40K on my novel last night. Halfway there!
Next time I blog I'll talk about more than just books. I'm not really ready to discuss anything else today. Have a good evening, everybody!

take a breath, dive back in

It's been over a week since my last post. Sorry about that; I just have a hard time sitting down and documenting, I guess. So, life since the last time we spoke . . .
K's visit was great. She was here for a week filled with sunshine and thunderstorms, museums and walks in the park, medical appointments and lazy mornings with big cups of coffee. K is one of those friends who is so comfortable, so easy for me to be with, that it's like we've never been apart. And it'd been almost two years since we'd seen each other last, so it was really nice for her to finally make it out to NYC. It was her first time here ever, so it was really entertaining to show her around the city! We also went to a concert. Concrete Blonde. They were AMAZING, as always! This year is the twentieth anniversary of Bloodletting so it was a greatest hits concert, of sorts. They played every song I could have possible asked for. The night before that I saw Patty Griffin---equally good, but totally different. Much more mellow. Concrete Blonde rocks pretty hard.
The best part of seeing K? I'll see her again in August, when I'm in Seattle, and I'll see her probably one more time later this year here in NYC again.
Ah, books. There've been a few, and I've been remiss by not talking about them. And here I am running out of time, so I'll just hit one or two. 25) Interfictions, edited by Delia Sherman and Theodora Goss. Full disclosure, I submitted a short to this collection, so was really looking forward to seeing what stories did get chosen for inclusion. And I have to be honest and say that I was not impressed with most of it. I understand why most of them got chosen, and the interstitiality of them. But I didn't think all the writing was very good. Sometimes the story was better than the writing, and sometimes it was the other way around. A couple stories really caught me, like Catherynne Valente's and K. Tempest Bradford's, but there just wasn't enough in this collection that I really loved, so it's not a keeper for me.
Happy Litha, everyone! It's that time of year again; Summer Solstice, when the days are longest in the whole year. According to the old calendar, this is actually Midsummer (which makes sense if you look at the length of the days).
And now it's time to go. More books next time, but now I'm heading home to play my clarinet and do some writing!

overdue post

So I can't get my pictures to cooperate for some reason. I was going to post a picture of my huge pile of books from BEA, but no . . . Oh well.
BEA was great! As I said before, I met a number of really nice people. I got some books that I'm really excited about, including Ascendant by Diana Peterfreund (sequel to Rampant; killer unicorns!), Jennifer Donnelly's Revolution, Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon, The Beastly Bride edited by Ellen Datlow, and Melissa Marr's Radiant Shadows. Yes, it was a big YA year. But the biggest score on my bookshelf is Clockwork Angel by Cassandra Clare. I haven't read it yet, because I'm working through my book club reading right now, but Cassie's book is absolutely next on my list. So, two days, five tote bags, a ton of books, and one cab ride later, I would say that BEA was a total success for me.
Last weekend I went to the Renegade Craft Fair, which I hit every year in Brooklyn. It was wicked, as always. I got a great green skirt, a darling cloche hat with a pink flower on it, a cross-stitch necklace, and a seven-year pen. I also got a onesie and a hoodie for my nephew and niece, respectively. My partner-in-crime bought three t-shirts, too. All in all, a great afternoon in the sunshine checking out arts and crafts! There was really a lot of cool stuff this year. I could've bought a couple different shoulder bags, a lot more clothing, some cute arm warmers, some AMAZING blank books . . . the list just goes on and on. It was great.
Now a good friend of mine from the west coast, K, is in town for a week. We're having a fun time just meandering around the city. She's never been here before, so it's all a really new, fresh experience for her. Today? The American Museum of Natural History. As soon as I'm done with this post. So I should probably go.
Another post soon, I promise, about the last few books I've read, how the novel is coming along, and life in general in the Big Apple.

lunchtime ramble

I'm sitting in my office eating a bowl of raw veggies drizzled with fig-infused vinegar, giving my busy brain a five-minute break from work by checking out some blogs I recently bookmarked. Like this one. And this one. Somehow they make my soul breathe a little sigh of relief, and keep me going through the rest of the crazy afternoon. You know why I think that is? Reading blogs such as these is like looking through a secret peephole into the mysterious creative lives of these strangers. It's a breath of fresh air in the monotony of my office job. (Not that I don't love my job. I do. But lately I've been REALLY craving more time for me and my personal wants/needs/desires.) If there were a color printer at work I could use, I would print some of the pictures from those blogs and tape them onto my office walls so I could be surrounded by that feeling all day.
On a slightly more down-to-earth note, I'm about 26,500 words through my YA superhero fiction. Which isn't nearly as far as I wanted to be, come June. But hey, at least I'm sitting down to write almost every day. At least there's progress. And even if I don't finish it by the end of June (which I'm still aiming for, by the way), this will still be the fastest I've ever turned out a draft. I also had most of a short story show up in my head on Sunday, which was a pleasant surprise, so I'm partway through writing that.
I dreamed last night that my sister J and I, along with quite a few other women, were trapped in this asylum-type place. We fled one day from our captors at the asylum, and on our way through the grounds, our captors began throwing things at us. They caught J in the side and she was bleeding awfully but we all managed to make it to this huge sprawling university campus. We went into a large building and hid in the rabbit-warren of rooms we found there while someone went to look for a doctor for J. The blood kept coming. And then I too went to look for a doctor and rounded a corner in the building and one of the other women screamed at me. And it startled me so much that I woke up, with a racing heart and panicked gaze in the darkness of my apartment.
There are books to write about, and I know I owe you a long post about BEA, but neither of those things are happening right now. Right now I will eat the rest of my veggies and wander dreamily through another blog or two, then get back to the (enormous) pile of work on my desk. More blogging to come soon, I promise.

a little update

I just wrapped up two days at BEA, and it was great! Loads of books, and a few good tote bags. I spent most of the time with a couple friends from the office. Saw a couple other people I know, met a lot of book bloggers, a few great authors, and one really nice literary agent. Full update to come, possibly with pictures, but for now I'll just say that it was every bit as good as previous years, and my shoulders are SORE from carrying bags of books. But the soreness? Totally worth it.

take a look around

Somewhat lazy Saturday so far. I've done some freelancing, ran some things to the thrift store, tidied that apartment. That's about it. Starting to feel nibbly, but haven't played my clarinet yet, but my partner-in-crime is asleep on the couch so instead of making noise I'm here, talking to you. Went to yoga yesterday after work; that felt really good. After, I sat in a cafe with LG and did a smidge of writing. Banged out an outline for the third short story on my list for this year, and did some brainstorming for my radio play episodes. The remainder of the evening was spent drinking, which was a little foolish but fun, so oh well. Oh, read another book!
24. Mathilda Savitch by Victor Lodato. It was weird. The writing was distinctive, and consistent, and quirky. The main character, Mathilda, has some ISSUES. To be fair, so do her parents. Mathilda's older sister dies about a year before the events of the book. It is interesting to watch Mathilda deal with her grief, and see how she deals with her life. But I don't think it's a keeper for me. It somehow just didn't quite draw me in enough.
I think that's all I've got for today. I turned the computer on to do some writing, but all I've done so far is bum around on the Internet. Time for some discipline, and some teen superhero action!
Happy Saturday, everyone!

state of the honeydew

Time for a spring check-in on my to-do list for the year. Here's the list I posted for writing goals in January:

• submit Nor -- DONE (although I could do it more, with different agents)
  
• write cupcake truck Western novel -- now the superhero novel instead, and I'm 18,650 words in. I'm really behind, but still gunning for my deadline for draft one, which is end of June. Whole thing is outlined, that's a step in the right direction!
  
• write first novel in urban fantasy series -- this will happen in the fall
  
• outline entire urban fantasy series -- working on it. I've got partial ideas for each book, but need to come up with the underlying big story.
  
• write three short stories -- one mostly written, one outlined, one is still just an idea
  
• edit the two shorts I wrote last year -- edited one, will edit the other this summer!
  

So that's not bad. There's been progress on everything. I feel pretty good about it. Non-writing goals for this year include:

• yoga regularly
• running regularly
• finish Buffy
• take some clarinet lessons
• two-bedroom apartment!

The yoga is happening. The running is beginning to happen. Buffy . . . well, I'll have more time for that once summer Fridays kick in. Clarinet lessons are in discussion currently, and the two-bedroom really depends on how well we save money for the next few months. So we'll see.
Book! 23) The Affinity Bridge by George Mann. Steampunk! Airships! Victorian England! Zombies! AWESOME! I adore this book. The tone is consistent, the steampunk elements great fun, the characters solid . . . No complaints. If you like fantasy, or steampunk, or historical fiction, run out and get this one! The trade paperback was just released April 27, so you don't have to shell out for the hardcover.
Well, there is more freelancing to do, and some grocery shopping and checkbook balancing that needs happening as well. I hope everyone's Sunday has been as peaceful as mine!

someone like me

So, this weekend, here's the plan. I will go running both days. I will work on my novel both days. I will practice my clarinet both days. I will finish one freelance project and put in some time on another. Today, I will also go hang out with LG while she moves, and clean the apartment. Sounds busy? A little. It's not so bad, really. Mostly I want to make sure I get some good writing in. I haven't been good about making the time for it, so I'm not as far along with this draft as I would like to be.
What's everybody else up to this weekend?

everybody else's girl

Here I am again, another beautiful Saturday and I'm frantically freelancing. I just caught myself getting really angry at it, so I'm taking a break for a while. Go for a run, get my laundry going. Go to the bank. Maybe read for a few minutes before I dive back into it. I know I talked the other day about balance, and I am really working on it. I just need to finish all the freelance work I'm committed to before the balancing can really begin.
I did do a little writing last night, and I'll do some more tonight. Tomorrow we're going on a hike with a couple friends, and that's going to be great! Some good outdoor time; that doesn't happen that often here in the city.
I've been dreaming like crazy lately. Twice in the last week it's been about my work-spouse. Those tend to be relationship dreams, which is funny because I really don't think of him that way. I think the point of the dreams is more about the comfort of the familiar, and what I want versus what I don't want on an emotional/mental level. I don't think they're about him. Another fun recent one was a big houseparty I was at. Neil Gaiman was there, and complimented my T-shirt, which was gray and a little long and said "jail warden" toward the bottom, with a funky pattern thing above it. I was a little in awe and didn't talk much. Then later I was looking for Neil to talk to him more, but couldn't find him. Instead I found me and my twin sister's best friends from living in Washington sitting at a table playing cards.
No more books to report right now. I'm in the middle of reading four different books, but mostly I've been taking freelancing on the train so there hasn't been much reading time.
This coming week, I don't want to make any plans at all except yoga/writing, and our neighbor J's play. There's been too much going on lately. I know that sounds silly since I'm never really that busy, but there's a lot I want to do with my time that involves the quiet of being at home. Or at least the time to take for myself, even if I do it in a coffee shop or something.
Anyway, time to go running, before another thunderstorm blows through. I hope everyone is having a great Saturday! Ta!

once upon a sunday

Well, here we are, May already. Happy Beltane! Slightly belated, as the holiday was yesterday, but ah well. Yay for spring and fertility and the coming of summer!
Big news that I somehow completely forgot to mention last time I wrote here: My promotion FINALLY happened on April 27. Hurray! Only three and a half years later, I'm no longer an assistant! I'm glad to have it happen, at long last. No more offsets for me; just domestics from now on. Thank goodness!
Three more books for you. 20) Wildwood Dancing by Juliet Marillier. This is a retelling of two fairy tales in combination, set in Transylvania. I loved it! Great, strong-willed characters who don't back down from their responsibilities or their mistakes. Multiple challenges for the heroine(s) to overcome. And beautiful writing. Definitely a keeper, and definitely recommended to anybody who reads. 21) The World's Wife by Carol Ann Duffy. Interesting collection of poetry from the perspective of big-name wives throughout history/mythology. Mrs. Midas, Mrs. Tieresias, etc. plus a few other strong women such as Medusa. If you dig poetry, check this one out. It's a keeper for me. 22) The Music of Razors by Cameron Rogers. This is a hard book to explain, and a hard book to read. It's about a girl named Hope whose life is kind of awful. A mysterious man named Henry is trying to recruit her for a mission involving something called the Third Option (as compared to Heaven or Hell), and her comatose brother, Walter, is trying to protect her from Henry. I was really into reading this at first, even though it's emotionally rough. It got great blurbs from big novelists. But . . . there's no redemption at any point for any of the characters. Things just keep being hard, and they keep making mistakes, and the end is not really a finishing. It's an ending, but not a conclusion, if that makes sense. Anway. I struggle with books like that, so for me, this isn't a keeper, but if you don't mind the lack of redemption, then you should check this one out.
Anyway, I'm still struggling with getting through all the freelancing on my plate, although I did get through a good chunk already today. It's a slow process to achieve balance, but I think as long as I hold the goal in my mind I can achieve it. I am getting back on top of my life, slowly but surely. My checkbook is finally up to speed, I've managed to keep the house tidy, I did some good brainstorming on the next short story I'll be writing. I've been getting better about exercising. The rest of today involves a run, another chapter of freelancing, and some writing on my superhero book. And then having dinner outside, perhaps with some bubbly. Oh, and did I mention it's gorgeous out?
Happy weekend, everyone!

she wanders from the path

I've been doing some thinking lately, about my life and about my priorities and about what I want to be doing with my time. And I've realized that in the last couple of years I've placed way too much importance on my job and my freelance work. Sure, the money is good from the freelancing. Sure, I feel a moral obligation to get all my work done. But I feel that for the last couple of years I have really been working myself to the bone, and for what? A few more dollars? The occasional "thanks for your hard work"? I understand that the industry I chose to get into is chronically overworked and underpaid. But I need to start taking care of myself. I got this job so I would have a career I enjoy while writing and trying to get published. I did not get into it so my life would revolve around it. And I'm never going to get published if I don't take time for more writing! So I'm making myself a promise right now. No more overtime. No more constant freelancing; I will only take projects that interest me. No more working through my lunch break. It's time to reset those boundaries. What's important to me is my life, not my job. It's my family, my friends, my partner-in-crime, my writing, my music. And I need to get back to that level of living.
So here goes! This summer is officially the summer of ME. More time for me, more writing for me, more reading for me, more everything for me. I think it's necessary. I know it'll be hard to change my habits at first, but I must. I must.

she's lost in her own time line

Well, April is just flying right by. It's been a busy, busy month. Got back into freelancing after taking March off. Did make some forward progress on the superhero novel (I suppose I should do an updated honeydew list at some point here). My band concert is this Saturday, so I've been practicing regularly. I've also had some sekrit extracurricular stuff going on, which sucked up a fair chunk of my time. And, I've been meeting with a group of people about writing an urban fantasy radio play! So, life as usual I guess. Lots of things going on. Hopefully in the new future I'll have some exciting news to share; we'll see about that!
I wanted to share this post by Catherynne Valente. She's a writer I've been curious about for quite a while; I really should give in and buy some of her novels. What do you guys think about the concept of Skinny Buddha and Fat Buddha? Do tell. I'd love to have some good conversation about this, because the concept of focusing solely on one thing versus having a multitude of things going on is something I struggle with on a regular basis.
A quickie book to tell you about: 19) Giving Up the Ghost by Hilary Mantel. It's her memoir. I thought the beginning was great and the ending was great. But I felt that the section about her childhood dragged on for too long. And the big reveal left me a little disappointed. Part of it was how it came about, part of it was just the fact of what it was. Not a keeper for me, even though her writing is beautiful. I'll definitely check out her fiction. If anybody really enjoys memoirs, I'd say give this a shot.
And now, back to work I go. Happy Wednesday, everybody, and have a good afternoon. I hoep some of you make it outside to enjoy the sunshine!

books

I'm falling behind on my book-blogging. Here's four new books for you to consider:
15. Dying Bites by D. D. Barant. This first book in urban fantasy series The Bloodhound Files is quite good. It's about an FBI officer named Jace who finds herself catapulted into a parallel universe where the world is overrun by vampires and werewolves. Humans make up less than 1% of the population. And she's been taken there to track down a human madman. Now, there's loads of this sort of noirish, gritty urban fantasy out there these days. A lot of it is mediocre, in my opinion. But this one is not. The characterization of Jace is good; her struggle to adjust and adapt, her feelings about it, her inner conflict about who she is working for versus who she is hunting. Good stuff. I'm definitely going to pick up the next book in this series.
16. Song of the Silence by Elizabeth Kerner. Yes, it's epic fantasy. Which I don't read much of these days, frankly. It takes a darn good epic fantasy to hold my interest. And this one did it. It's about a woman named Lanen Kaelar who has dreamed her whole life of finding the dragons of legend and speaking to them. And then sets out to do just that. Lanen is a refreshingly competent character, bold and selfless, and her adventures are worth reading. For those of you skeptics out there, this epic fantasy contains no elves, no singing swords, no princesses. The dragons are the big trope, followed by some demons and some magic. But this is a confident, well-written debut, and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.
17. Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs. What can I say? I love the Mercy Thompson books. Smart, sassy, and interesting. This one shows Mercy trying to solve a spate of Fey murders, with disastrous consequences in her own life. I laughed and cried over the course of this book (and swore a few times). Ah, urban fantasy, I love you. Seriously, everybody should read this series.
18. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I've heard so much about how brilliant this book was, that I was frankly a little skeptical. But you know what? I think the hype was right. This book is great. Extremely well done, with characters that grab your attention and don't let go. I read the whole thing in two or three days, around work. Katniss is a really fascinating character: she's smart, and clever, and prickly, and quite adept at taking care of herself and her family. She understands the politics of the situations she ends up in. This is a book where you really suffer along with Katniss, and make no mistake, it's a brutal piece of fiction. But it's shot through with moments of grace and beauty, and it's pretty breathtaking to watch Katniss go through her trials and tribulations. I've got the sequel, Catching Fire, borrowed from a friend in my office, and I can't wait to get to work on Monday so I can start reading it on my commute home that afternoon.
I feel like I've missed one that I read. Well, I'll have to ponder that.
In other news, I bought a plane ticket to go home for a good friend's wedding in July, and I think that'll be a fun trip. My partner-in-crime won't be joining me, as he can't afford to take the time off, which is a shame. But it'll be good to see family and friends.
Also, some big news is looming on the horizon. You'll find out in a couple days, readers. Be patient with me!
Anyway. I've gotten behind on my writing this week so I need to get back to it. 1300 more words to write today in order to be caught up by the end of tomorrow.
Happy weekend, everyone!

too busy for her own good

This week is, as my title disclosed, a little more busy than I'd like it to be. My own fault, I suppose, but I can whine a bit, can't I? Anyway. Some of it is exciting stuff, some of it is boring stuff. Some of it is just everyday little nothing stuff that has to happen at some point. (Cleaning out the fridge is on my list for tonight. Now doesn't that sound exciting?)
I've been reading more, and there are a couple books to post about, but not now. I'm just not really feeling it. Instead, I'll post about a book that I started to read, but rejected. National Book Award Winner by Jincy Willett. I picked it up because I've heard rave reviews about Willett's work from multiple people. And the writing, in the short section I read, was good. She's obviously adept at what she does. The problem I had was the characters. I just couldn't bring myself to care about any of them. Especially the main-character-in-absentia. I just didn't feel like any of them deserved my continued attention. And after 30 pages, you'd thing that one of them would've caught me by now! This is not the first book I've come across that elicited this sort of reaction, and it really makes me sad. Especially if I think the writing is really good. I want books to be about people I can empathize with and care about. Not people I despise. Who wants to read about that sort of character? So, I put it down. Hopefully the next book goes a little better!
Back to work I go. Busy busy little bee . . .

oh, friday!

Thank goodness it's Friday night. It's been a long week. Tonight after work I went to a yoga class for the first time since my wrist got messed up a year ago. It felt so good! And I'll totally be sore tomorrow. So what will I do? Go for a run. I've decided it's past time to make an effort to get back into shape. I'm tired of feeling squidgy. And yoga? I didn't realize how much my body missed it until I went back tonight.
Without further ado, my goals for this summer:

• Yoga once a week
• Running twice a week
• Two short stories
• Superheroes draft 1
• clarinet lessons

I think that's doable. Especially with summer Fridays looming in the near future. Well, nearish.
I've read a couple books since the last time I blogged about any. 12. Rebel Angels by Libba Bray. Sequel to A Great and Terrible Beauty. SO good. I love this kind of book. Historical paranormal fiction. The characters, especially Gemma, are easy to empathize with. The writing is lush and beautiful. The storyline is great. Really, everybody, if you haven't read this trilogy, go out and buy it now! (And yes, the whole trilogy is out, I just haven't gotten to book three yet.)
13. Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Book Two. Just as good as the first collection. I love the whimsy and the freewheeling attitude of the Moomins. Please, go and read the comic strips. Or the novels. The Moomins are so great!
14. A Giant Problem by Holly Black and Tony Diterlizzi. Second book in the Beyond the Spiderwick Chronicles series. Good stuff. I have to say, I like the original Spiderwick Chronicles better than the second set so far. But it's still quality writing, a good storyline, and great illustrations. Totally worth reading.
To close, the Hipster event on Wednesday night was a lot of fun. Pretty funny in parts, and a full house, which is great for the book (and the editor, who's a friend of mine). I had a really good time. And now, back to my boxed wine. Maybe I'll do a little reading for fun. I suppose I should be freelancing, but who wants to do that on a Friday night?

the move

Well, it's all done. Last Saturday I moved most of my belongings into storage and the rest into my partner-in-crime's apartment. Sunday was spent organizing, and Monday we cleaned my old place and returned the keys. (And got my whole deposit back! Yeah!) So that's that. We live together again.
It's going well so far. Some little snits here and there about nothing big. It's just the adjustment of learning how to share a space all the time again, and I think we'll be fine. My desk area looks GREAT, I'll have to post a picture soon. There's a TON of food in the kitchen, especially baked goods, so I know what I'll be doing this weekend. . . . It's a pity the KitchenAid went into storage!
Anyway. It's nearly time to go. There's mac and cheese in my future, followed by a comedy show at UCB to celebrate the release of Look at This F*ucking Hipster. Sometime in the next couple of days I'll write about some books I've read and some dreams I've had, and possibly about a short story kicking around my brain. But for now, have a good night!

she dreams of dreaming

My weekend was a little crazy! It involved catching a cold, packing half of my apartment, and attending a surprise party. And culminated in a great dinner at Mojave followed by a surprise kitty visitor at my partner-in-crime's place. His name is Gato, and he's the sweetest, lankiest tabby I've met in a long time. He hung out all evening! Pictures hopefully to come, if my partner-in-crime took some as instructed.
So. I've got to run to band rehearsal, but I wanted to point out this interview with Neil Gaiman in the New Yorker. I think that man is so brilliant! I also wanted to point out the irony of me stumbling across this article about resting regularly.
So. Happy Monday, and Happy Ostara yesterday! Blessed Be!

finally, spring!

Well, my birthday has come and gone, and we're having our first spate of truly glorious spring days in NYC. It just makes me want to call in sick every day so I can lay around the park and read to my heart's content. Alas, that's not to be. . . .
I only have a minute today; I've got to get to my writing. I haven't completely settled into the 800-words-per-day habit, but I'm getting there. And am enjoying my story of teen superheroes, so once I'm done moving on March 27, it should be no problem to really get down to the writing!
Two more books: 10. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. this is a lovely little gem of a book, written entirely in letters (yes, epistolary! I love books like this!) to and from a writer named Juliet Ashton. It takes place in 1946; the war is over but is still omnipresent, haunting everyone who went through it. While this is, admittedly, a war novel, it is not a WAR novel. It doesn't beat you over the head with the war. It just, every so often, gently reminds you. This is really a book about love and life and finding your home and family. I highly recommend it!
And 11. The Alchemist's Daughter by Katharine McMahon. This was an interesting read, very lush. But I had a hard time connecting with the characters. It's about a girl, Emilie, who is raised in isolation by her father, who teaches her natural philosophy and alchemy. And what happens when she becomes an adult and is swayed by influences other than paternal. I enjoyed it, but as I said, I didn't really connect. Not a keeper for me.
And now, on to the writing. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

here lies a fire

Guess what I'm doing tonight? Starting my next novel! It's going to be superhero fiction, for lack of a better term. YA, a little dark. A lot of fun. I'm looking forward to digging into it. My goal is to write 800 words a day; we'll see how that goes! Maybe I'll put one of those metric things up on here so I can track my progress.
Aside from that, I finished another book last night. 9. French Trysts by Kirsten Lobe. This is a fun, frivolous read, full of racy sex scenes and crazy shenanigans. I had a good time with it; it's very lighthearted, pure escapism. And MAN did it make me crave a good light French picnic! Fresh strawberries, some yummy cheese, a baguette still warm from the oven, and a nice bottle of Champagne. Doesn't that sound good? It was fun. I recommend this book, even though it's not a keeper for me. I just don't tend to revisit this sort of book; it's nothing personal. This would be a FABULOUS beach read for all you ladies this summer.
Anyway. Busy busy at work today. I'll try to get back on here on Thursday, as Friday is my birthday so I'm taking that day just for me! Plans to be discussed next blog.
Happy afternoon, everybody!

March

Happy March, everyone! Sorry I didn't post last week. I intended to, but it would've been a bitter, angry blog post, and I am trying not to spew that sort of bile here. I'm feeling much better about things this week.
Two books to report:
7. Liar by Justine Larbalestier. Justine is a writer I've been meaning to check out for a while, so I was excited that this one came up for book club. And you know what? It was well worth reading, just for her writing. She's good. Tight writing, complex characters. It was compelling. But I had a couple of issues with the story. I don't want to give anything away by writing about it here (someday I'll learn how to do those "under-the-cut" things so I can writer spoilery bits!) but there was a moment about halfway through where the story did a ninety-degree turn, and I couldn't quite buy it. There was also a moment toward the end where something big was really briefly mentioned, and never returned to. I think that this is not a keeper for me because I got frustrated with the story. But the flip side of that is that the writing was so good that I'm definitely going to seek out some of her other books. I say give her a shot; her writing is really good!
8. Moomin Book One: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip by Tove Jansson. I love the Moomins. A lot. I got introduced to Jansson's fiction about the Moomins by a Finnish high-school boyfriend, so I was really excited to find the comic strip collections. And it's great! The Moomins are very bohemian and free, and I love it. This made me smile the whole way through. I definitely recommend all of Tove Jansson's work to anyone who wants to check out something that's a little whimsical and bohemian and a lot GREAT.
Besides that: I've had two houseguests for a week, which has been a little complicated, but a lot of fun. It's an old college friend and a student of hers. I have had a lot of freelancing over the last few weeks, so that's kept me busy. And I've begun the Great Apartment Purge prior to moving back in with my partner-in-crime.
In short, life is busy, but good. And it's going to stay busy for the next few weeks! Back to work I go, have a good night, everybody!

another week gone

Where, oh where does the time go? I swear the days were longer when I was younger. Ah, the halcyon days of youth . . .
. . . or something like that. Right now I'm sitting in my partner-in-crime's apartment waiting for him to make chili for dinner. YUM. Amusing myself online when I should, per usual, be working. But I'm feeling a little blase about the working-constantly thing, so I'm letting it slide tonight. And tomorrow I'm going flea marketing with a friend to look for a good present for my sister!
A quick book: 6) The Ruby Key by Holly Lisle. She's had a number of adult fantasy books published, but this is her first YA one. It's high fantasy; a different world, magic, moonroads, nightlings, talking cats, ghosts, fortune tellers . . . I really like the world she's created. The characters are well fleshed out and easy to empathize with. The story is good. Here's my problem with it: Every time Genna, the main character, makes a mistake, or doesn't know or realize something, somebody comes down on her for it. I just wanted to shout at the book "She's fourteen, and didn't know the moonroads existed before yesterday, of COURSE she wouldn't know how to use them!" I know everyone was depending on Genna to save the day, but just once, just ONCE, I wanted another character to look at her and say "Of course you didn't know that yet. No one's told you. It's okay." I got really angry at it once or twice. But besides that, it's really good. Should I keep it? I'm not sure. Should I get the sequel? I'm also not sure. Something to think about, I guess.
Speaking of books, I went with a friend to the Strand for my lunch break today. We enabled each other. And it was good. I could've bought so many books! But I bought three. I know, I have so many books at home, what am I doing purchasing more? Well, sometimes I just want to stay at home and read all the books I have. And that's good. But sometimes, the mood strikes me and I really, really just want to go book shopping. And that's the mood that I've been in for the last couple weeks. I can't help it; I covet books. I love them. I'm trying to be reasonable about my addiction, but it's so hard sometimes!
By the way, I decided that the next novel I write will be the superheroes one. So I've started fleshing out characters and plot ideas. And in March, I start writing.
Anyway. I should really go help make dinner so it happens faster. Happy weekend, everyone!

one more

well, I got another rejection this afternoon. I think that brings me up to seven. I'm a little bummed about that, but the rejections I've gotten have been very nice rejections, and there are a few agents I'm still waiting to hear from. Plus a few more I'm going to submit to sometime soon.
In the meantime, I'm just plugging along with Real Life, doing my freelancing, slowly preparing to move back in with my partner-in-crime, trying to catch up at work, etc. Nothing terribly exciting going on. I'm starting to really ponder what to write next, which is good. And shortly I'll be doing more reading, which is also good.
I hope everybody had a good Valentine's Day. Mine involved a really tasty sushi dinner, a nice bottle of red wine, and chocolate mousse for dessert. Oh, and a nice bouquet of roses and lilies!
Anyway. It's time to go home. I'll be back sometime this week to report on another book or two, and possibly scribble down a dream or two as well. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

lazy Saturday morning

It's been a good morning, so far. I woke up, finished a book in bed, took a leisurely shower, and did some freelancing. Now my partner-in-crime is making banana-nut pancakes, and after I eat I'll head back to my place. Here's the to-do list for today:

play my clarinet
exercise
tidy my apartment
more freelancing
Dave's birthday thing, briefly
write
purge something
maybe an episode of Buffy

I think that's doable. Totally doable. And speaking of reading this morning, I've finished two more books.
4. Of Bees and Mist by Eric Setiawan. This a debut novel, full of magic realism and interfamily relationships. I really enjoyed the magic realism, it was deftly done. And the vague Everytown setting was well written. The characters had depth, and were pretty true to themselves throughout. Overall, this is quite a good book. But it's not a keeper for me. None of the characters ever catches a break. Horrible things just keep on happening to all of them, sometimes through their own fault, sometimes not. But by the time I was halfway through the book I just wanted to shake it. I really, REALLY wanted someone to have some genuine happiness, for just a little while, and I never felt like it happened. Which is hard to read. I'm not saying that I think books should be easier on the characters within them, or that books should end with a happily-ever-after, but if it's all doom-and-gloom, if it's all sadness and mistakes all the time, it's not a keeper for me. So if you don't mind books like that, then by all means, pick this one up; the writing is great, etc. I just think he's not quite for me.
5. Huntress, and anthology put out last summer by St. Martin's mass market line. This features four authors: Christine Warren and Marjorie M. Liu (both NYT bestsellers, I believe), and Caitlin Kittredge and Jenna Maclaine. Admittedly, I picked it up so I could read Caitlin's contribution, since I generally dig her work. And it was a perfectly well-done Black London story, about a younger Jack Winter. I enjoyed her contribution. I'd never read the other three women before, and I have to say, the only one who impressed me was Marjorie M. Liu. Her story was interesting and well written. Her characters were interesting people. And the paranormal aspect made sense. Nothing felt forced; the story was fluid and forward-moving without feeling rushed. I really, really enjoyed that piece of work. The other two weren't as well executed, I thought. Or, to be fair, maybe it's just that they were more about the sex than I like my fiction to be. Also, I find it rare to really like every piece in an anthology like this. This is a keeper for me, for Caitlin and Marjorie's pieces. For anyone who wants some paranormal action with some serious sex thrown in, pick up this collection!
Some dreams:
A few nights ago I dreamed I was engaged to a young gentleman, and we were having an engagement party at my parents house. This was all taking place 80-100 years ago, I think. My fiance was wearing a gray suit, and my family loved him. So we were outside, picnic tables with white Christmas lights strung overhead, eating homemade food and talking and laughing and just generally having a good time. Then we all moved to go inside, and my fiance disappeared. I looked all over for him but couldn't find him, and was very distraught. Then I was on a train, still sort of looking for him, but I had some children with me. Some of them weren't paying enough attention and ended up in a different train car from me, but I wasn't concerned. My oldest goddaughter was with me. Then she and I were at my sister and brother-in-law's house, only now their house in real life, and they had a litter of kittens we were playing with. Then I went into a bedroom to try to get some sleep and this young woman came in and tried to get me to sleep with her.
A couple nights ago I dreamed something about flying a small plane, and sort of crashing, I think, and then I was at the house of the family I used to nanny for. The kids looked the same as they did then. And the older boy had a friend of his there who was dying. I was hanging out in the kitchen with their mother and she told me how the friend's parents had turned him out after the accident that left him dying.
I thought I remember last night's dream, but now that I've delved back into the older two, last night's seems to have vanished from my brain. Well, c'est la vie. It's time for pancakes anyway.
Happy weekend!

update

On the writing goals for the year:

• submit Nor --- DONE!
  
• write cupcake truck Western novel
• write first novel in urban fantasy series
• outline entire urban fantasy series
• write three short stories
• edit the two shorts I wrote last year --- ONE OUT OF TWO!
  

Oh, and I've started writing one short story. So, that's a good start, a month into the year! That said, I'm still not convinced that I'm going to write the cupcake truck novel. I may write something else entirely. Which is okay. Like I said the other day, I'm not worrying about that for now.
This weekend for me is going to be all about the sleeping, the freelancing, seeing a movie with a friend, and continuing the ongoing purge of my apartment. I'm moving out of it in two months, and I really feel it necessary to get rid of extraneous things beforehand.
So that's that. Happy weekend everyone, and I'll be back here soon!