so many days

Hello lovelies, it's been a while! As always, I didn't intend for it to be so, but life happens. I've been pretty preoccupied between day job, freelancing, writing, music, roommates, the state of politics in America today, etc. But there have been good things happening. I attended the Rainforest Writing Retreat in March, and wrote 27,000 words in five days! I've written a couple short stories! I'm on my second round of revisions on my novelette! 4th Street Fantasy was two weekends ago, and was amazing as always! My longest-standing friend in the world and her husband visited last weekend!

And of course, I've read some good books this year  (super short comments on each because otherwise I'd be here for hours):

1) Descender vol 1. WHOA good sci-fi graphic novel.

2) Pretty Deadly vol. 1. You dig weird Western? This is crazy good!

3) Nimona by Noelle Stevenson. This graphic novel got me right in the feels. Loved it!

4) Life Without a Recipe by Diana Abu-Jaber. I love everything she writes. She uses the English language so beautifully, I fall into her words.

5) Last First Snow by Max Gladstone. Everything Max writes is brilliant.

6) Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig. This was like reading an action movie!

7) The Archived by Victoria Schwab. Atmospheric YA. I need to get the sequel.

8) The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma. This is some creepy YA! So good!

9) Black Dog by Caitlin Kittredge. Action-oriented, out-of-the-norm urban fantasy. I just picked up the sequel.

10) The Silent Woman by Janet Malcom. REALLY interesting book about Sylvia Plath!

11) Once Broken Faith by Seanan McGuire. I love the whole Toby Daye series.

12) An Unkindness of Magicians by Kat Howard. Kat blows me away, everything she writes is amazing!

I'll be focusing on my writing for the summer, but I'll be dropping by here every so often to update you all on how that's going. My goals are to finish revising the novelette and start submitting it, and to have a finished first draft of the novel I'm powering through. And to spend more time reading! What's everyone else's plans for the summer?

Time to get back to writing. Blood and kisses, everyone, I'll be back here soon.

moon-shaped

Agh, that frustrating moment when you had a blog post mostly written and then your draft disappears . . . Ah, well. I'll do my best to re-create it.
I feel as though I am continuing to improve, a little bit every day. I'm writing pretty regularly. Only a new project, though: I'm not prepared to revisit the projects I was so bogged down in before. I think it'll be a while yet before I do look at those again. Work has calmed, and so has home (as much as home can when sharing space with so many people). I was recently on vacation for a week, and it was very nice to not be in the city, to have some time away, to catch up with people. Of course I missed my cats terribly, though, and they were both angry at me when I got home!
I can't wait for autumn to really begin. I am very ready for chill, crisp air; for sweaters and boots; for the changing of the leaves, and bonfires, and tea, and cozy nights at home reading.
Books!
15) The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss. This is a beautiful story of love and magic. The language is lush, and both characters felt very real to me. Definitely a keeper.
16) Full Fathom Five by Max Gladstone.I've nattered on about the Craft Sequence books before. They're brilliant, engaging, and very different from other fantasy series out there. Keepers, every one. Max is a great writer, and also a great speaker; if you get the chance to see him, be it a reading or a panel at a con or whatever, do it.
17) Daughter of Deep Silence by Carrie Ryan. I devoured this YA novel of revenge and hidden identities. It's a fast, smart, dark read that you will fall into. Definitely worth reading!
18) A Green and Ancient Light by Frederic S. Durbin. This is a quietly beautiful book about war and love and loss and magic. It surprised me, to be honest; I felt very emotionally connected to the characters and the story almost immediately. Every action is believable, the love is palpable, and every moment of tension is had me in suspense. Please check this one out; it's lovely.
And now, on with my Sunday. I have today off from pool, hurray! So I'm doing some things around the house, some freelancing, and running a couple errands. I'm so used to my Sundays being occupied that having the entire weekend free feels decadent.
More soon. Blood and kisses!

too hot to be clever

It's been hot as hell in New York for the past week or so, and we are all slowly melting into the concrete. It's incredibly difficult to find the fortitude to work on anything at all when the heat is leeching away your will to live.
That said, I just finished a rush proofreading project. Can't wait for that check to arrive so I can throw it at my credit card! Between that and doing several critiques for writer friends recently, I haven't managed to finish reading any books. I'm working on it though; today I started reading The Thorn and the Blossom by Theodora Goss, and I'm partway through a few others. Book updates soon, my dears!
I've continued to putter around with whatever occurs to me, writing-wise, but I think in September I'll get back to Janny and Syska. I do rather like a couple of the things that I've been poking at over the last couple of weeks, though. . . .
Also in September I'm visiting family for a week. I can't wait!
This Friday is my last summer Friday in New York before said family visit. My plan is to sleep it, do some writing, do some reading, and maybe play a video game or watch a movie. Or maybe I'll go to the park, or the Cloisters. . . .
That's all for now. Sorry to be brief, but I don't have a lot to report. Hopefully I'll have more to discuss soon.
Blood and kisses, all!

in these rags of wind

That's how I feel right now. Ragged. Summer usually does this to me. It just gets so busy, so full, and flies by. I can't wait for autumn. For cool nights at home, for sweaters, for a quiet couple of months in the company of good books and cups of tea. I also can't wait to see my family in September; it'll be a most welcome change of pace.
Three books to talk about:
17) Bone Crossed by Patricia Briggs. This series is one of my absolute favorite things happening in urban fantasy right now. Mercy Thompson is a well-fleshed-out character. The secondary characters are also well-done. The werewolf pack politics are believable, and the complicated relationships between the different kinds of fey as well as between fey and humans are spot on. This is book four. At the beginning, Mercy is still recovering from the trauma she suffered in book three, and I found her reactions to things and her panic attacks to be on the money. I can't wait to read the rest of this series, when I get my hands on it.
18) Not Flesh Nor Feathers by Cherie Priest. An older title by a long-standing favorite author of mine. This is one of the Eden Moore books, and I have to be honest: While I did enjoy it quite a bit (Southern Gothic ghost story!), it's been so long since I read the other two Eden Moore books that I'd forgotten some of the pertinent information from them. Nonetheless, this is a keeper for me, and recommended to all of you. (I just need to work on reading series titles closer together!)
19) Baby Proof by Emily Giffin. This book made me really angry. It's about a woman named Claudia, who doesn't want children. She's happily married to Ben . . . until he decides that he DOES want children. They divorce. Claudia spends time being depressed. Meanwhile, every other woman in the book treats her like she's an alien for not wanting babies. And every other woman either has kids, is trying to have kids, or is going to have kids. Claudia keeps wondering how she and Ben didn't work out if he's her soul mate. At one point, someone says to her, "He wasn't your soul mate. If he WERE, you'd do ANYTHING to keep him. Even have his baby." And that is Claudia's lightbulb moment. Her "Being with Ben is more important than my desire to not have babies" moment. And as a woman in her thirties who doesn't want children, this infuriated me. This female character decided that having her man was more important than her own wants and needs, more important than her own decisions about her body and career and etc. What. The. Hell? Every woman makes whatever decisions they make, and that's cool, but the overwhelming message I got from this book is "Ladies, you should want babies, and if you don't, there is something wrong with you. If you don't, you will lose your partner and be sad and lonely and pathetic for the rest of your life. So start making babies!"I'm angry enough at this book that I won't read any more of Emily Giffin's work, and I'm no longer recommending her to friends.
Have any of you ever read a book that made you angry? Do tell.
And on that note, I have to get back to work, it's piling up. Happy Monday, everyone!

you're the prayer here inside me

Another two weeks of me being silent. Sigh. Well. Even though it's not obvious here in blogland, progress is being made. I finished the first draft of the short I want to use for my application to Viable Paradise. It's off being read by a few people right now so I can get some feedback. Work has slowed down some. Still busy, though. Summer is rapidly approaching, for which I am thankful. Mostly because of summer Fridays. While at the new job I get half-day Fridays instead of every other, it'll still be nice to have lengthier weekends. I'm really trying to keep the freelancing to a minimum, and still working away at my non-freelance to-do list. I want very few commitments this summer other than to write and make music.
Anyway, two books:
12) The Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare. This is such a good ending to the Infernal Devices trilogy. Everyone suffered, some expected things happened, some unexpected, and in the end I'm happy with how things worked out for Will and Jem and Tessa.
13) The Poison Eaters by Holly Black. This is a collection of short stories by one of my favorite writers. Holly knows how to craft a good story and interesting characters. That said, I felt like the collection was a bit uneven. None of the stories were bad, but I found some of them much more interesting than others. But it was a good read and a keeper.
And now back to work. It's taken me half a day to peck this out around work things. Blessed be, everyone!

dreaming when they're gone

Sorry it's been quiet here lately; I just haven't had that much to share. Work has been busy. I've had a lot of freelancing. there's pool night on Tuesdays, and social life, and trying to fit in some exercise. I've not been good about continuing on the unfucking process; I fell back into my habit of being overscheduled. I'm trying to pull out of it again, so I can really get some things done.Maybe I should set some goals for this week/end? How's this: See Moonrise Kingdom, finish this freelance project, do my handwashing, put up curtains in the office, finish editing chapter 4 and start chapter 5. That's plenty, I think.
There are a few things I would like to do before the end of the summer, we'll see if I can manage that. Deep-sea fishing. Another beach day or two. The Cloisters. The zoo. Another day on Governor's Island. Anything exciting going on out in the universe that I should know about?
I've got to get to work; there's far too much to do. I'll try to be a better blogger in the future. Happy Tuesday!

this summer

I have to admit, this summer has been rough. I've been busy as all hell. I'm not as happy with my job due to a department shake-up. I'm waiting to hear back from several agents about my superheroes novel, which is nerve-wracking, and I've started a new one that I'm not totally sure about yet. Last weekend a stray dog showed up on our stoop; we've been taking care of her all week while we look for her owners. Through July and August I've felt stressed out and exhausted more than anything else. This summer has had some great moments, too. My trip home around the fourth of July was great. We've gone hiking twice, and been to the beach once. I've started a literary salon with a good friend. I've read some great books, and finished Buffy, and had some good times with some good friends. Overall, though, it's been a tough summer.

I'm not really sure what I'm trying to say in all this other than ask everyone for a little patience while I sort my life out. I won't be exhausted and overwhelmed forever. I just need a little time to get a couple things off my plate, and to get reorganized about a couple other things. Fair deal, life? Give me time to relax, and we can have a good autumn?

At least today is my Friday. Hopefully this weekend will be good for getting some things done. Especially with Hurricane Irene possibly nailing the East Coast, I'm hoping for a quiet, productive weekend.

Happy Thursday, everyone.

August already?

This summer is just flying by. August, where did you come from? Wasn't yesterday the 4th of July? Yikes!
This morning is just a quick books-and-update post before I run out the door for work. So. Since the last time we spoke, I've been to the beach, I've been hiking, I've started writing my next novel--5,000 words in, and I should really start doing daily metrics here--and things are good at work. Somehow I managed to totally miss Lughnasadh on Monday, but we were out in nature for a good portion of Sunday, so I do feel like that counts as celebrating, at least a little bit.
Three books for you today:
31) The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern. I don't want to spoil anything for anyone, as this book doesn't come out until mid-September, so I will just say that this book is gorgeous. All the hype out there about this one? It deserves all of it. This is a magical book. Go preorder it from your local bookstore right now. You won't be disappointed.
32) The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum. This is the second book in a series, and I thought it was just as good as the first one. I really enjoy Amanda's writing, and the world she's created. Isyllt is a phenomenal character, full of passion and conflict. I love the character Savedra; so much depth! I highly recommend this series to anyone who enjoys fantasy books.
33) A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin. This is the second book in the Song of Ice and Fire series, and it does live up to the first book. It is well written, sweeping in scope, and manages to move each character's story forward without getting stuck on any one storyline for too long. I find myself strongly reacting to a number of the characters, whether I like them or not, which says good things. I still like Jon, Arya, and Dany the best out of all of the characters, and I'm looking forward to reading the third.
That's it for today. I just realized what time it is, and must dash off to work. Happy Wednesday, my dears!

summer in the city

The heat has begun. And more than the heat, the humidity. This last week is just the beginning. Sandal weather! Sunscreen! Beach trips! Summer Fridays! I'm excited for summer, in case you can't tell. Usually I'm more of a fall/winter girl, but I feel like this spring has been particularly difficult, and I'm looking forward to the fresh start that comes with a long, lazy summer. I want sunny afternoons in the park with a good book. Naps. Lots of writing time. Iced tea! Caprese salad or Mediterranean-style picnic spreads for dinner! Doesn't that sound lovely? I think so.

No new books to talk about, or computer updates. I've turned in all my freelancing. Life has continued on as normal. I just wanted to mention a couple events.

First, BEA. It was pretty great. I got a number of books I'm excited about, most notably Forever by Maggie Stiefvater, The Magician Kings by Lev Grossman, Trial by Fire by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern, Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber, and Graveminder by Melissa Marr. BEA itself seemed smaller this year than in previous years, but it was still a buzzing hive of book activity, booths overrun by librarians and book bloggers and authors, and books everywhere! You know me. Put me in a room full of books and book people, and I'm like a kid in a candy shop. BEA is always great for me.

My sister J is in town for this week, so there's been a lot of flea markets and such in my last few days. We did a couple museum exhibits on Monday. First was the Alexander McQueen exhibit at the Met. It was breathtaking. I wasn't that familiar with his work going into it, which made it all that much more interesting. I had no idea he was so intellectual about his work. And the architecture of his pieces--stunning! I want all of it. I'm definitely going to look up some of his runway shows on YouTube when I have time. I'd like to learn more about what he did. At some point I do want to get the exhibit catalog, as well, which I don't usually do. But the conceptual layers of his pieces, the primitivism, the subtext of his work, it's all amazing.

The other exhibit we saw was the Pompeii exhibit at Discovery Times Square. This one was also great. It started with some information and artifacts on daily life in Pompeii. Then we were ushered into a small room where a time-lapse video re-creation of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius played. When the video ended, the wall behind it opened up into a room that held the body casts of people who'd died in the eruption. It was so silent in that room; I think that people were overwhelmed at what they were seeing. Rooms of skeletons, bodies of families twisted together in the positions they'd fallen in . . . it was intense. After that there were more day-to-day artifacts recovered from the ruins, and also a history of the archaeology at Pompeii. It was really interesting!

And now, on to work. The rest of this week should be busy; I can't wait to sleep in on Sunday.

Happy June, everybody!

today

This morning, what I really wanted was a leisurely stroll through the farmers' market, followed by a cup of English Breakfast tea and some fresh strawberries at home. An hour or two with a book, some time writing, a long walk in the park, and maybe an episode of Buffy. Instead, I spent all day in my (non-air-conditioned) office, working and daydreaming.
Some days, I do seriously consider self-employment.
Momentarily I'm heading to a friend's place for some work/hang-out time. Then work tomorrow. And then . . . my first summer Friday off! Yes! I'm really looking forward to it. A whole quiet day at home. Of course, I'll spend the majority of it freelancing, but who cares? At least I'll be able to have that cup of tea, and spend some time in the park if I want. (And watch that episode of Buffy!) Can't wait.
My summer is going to be quiet, I think, for the most part. Some beach trips, a weekend or two in Connecticut, that's probably about it. How about you? Anybody out there have some amazign summer plans to share?
Well, I'd best be off. I'll be back here soon, don't worry!

Sorry

I apparently am just a sporadic blogger at heart. Maybe it's that I only blog when I really feel the urge. Maybe it's just that my time is already overcommitted so I just don't get around to this very often. . . . Well, regardless, I do apologize. July was not the best of months in the history of me. There was a bad sunburn, and a nasty cold, and one of my books at work turned into an utter nightmare. Now I am just thanking the stars that July is over, and looking forward to having a happier, more productive August. So, without further ado, here are my August goals:

• finish editing my novel
• finish (re)learning the Debussy
• get my kitchen organized, and start on my bedroom
• get caught up at work
• read three books

There, that's not so bad, is it? I do also want to make it to the flea markets again this month. That hasn't happened since, oh, mid-June, I think. And there may be another beach trip in there, and I know there are a couple parties coming up, etc. So August will be packed full. How is it that the appeal of summer is those warm, lazy days at home, by yourself, where you do whatever you want, whenever you want, yet so few of those days actually happen?
Last night I talked to What-If Boy for a good half hour. And it was one of those perfectly comfortable, lovely conversations where we both laughed a lot, we talked about work, about family, about books and movies and just random things. It made me miss him. We used to be so close, and last night made me feel like we still are, even though we don't talk as often. It was really nice. Lately I've been rather anti-phone, but I'm glad I finally caught up with him.
I think I'll save the book reviews for next time, since I should get cracking on my pile of work today. Happy Wednesday!

A proper ramble

Well. Life has been busy since my last post. New Orleans was beautiful, and humid, and amazing. I really like it there. I would live there. The history of the city is fascinating, the people are friendly, the architecture is lovely. I even enjoyed the humidity. Here's a couple pictures for you:




Gorgeous. If I had the money I would definitely buy an apartment in the French Quarter! The cemetery was really interesting, with all the mausoleums. The swamp tour was great, all cypress trees and shallow water and alligators. I, of course, got really sunburned. But it was so nice to be out of New York for a few days, and to see some of my family. There are these amazing junk shops on Decatur Street, just past the French Market; they have the neatest stuff, and it's just piles and piles of it. I bought a copper footed colander, and a malachite ring. And a partial set of silverware.
June is shaping up to be busy month for me. Three friends have birthdays, so there are a couple different happenings, plus the Renegade Craft Fair is next weekend. And I (of course) have a freelance project, and am trying to edit my own book, and I'm hunting for just the right chair to go with the desk I bought last weekend. So much to do, so little time . . .
Two nights ago I had some people over for a poker game. It was the first time I'd had people over to my apartment, and it was loads of fun. My work spouse won both games! It just means I'll have to host more games, so everyone can try to win their money back from him.
Anyway. There's more to post about (books I've read, bands I've started listening to, summer goals) but I think I'll save it for a day or two. I need to get cracking on my freelance project.