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Forward to January, 2004...
Comments: SFF Net newsgroup | Rumor Mill Topic | Night Shade Books Topic |
Sunday 12-28-03
NEWSFLASH!
The last dregs of the year are swirling down the temporal drain. *grin* Yes, I've been busy, but also in a state of weird limbo which seems to happen every year at about this time. It's a sense of having to wrap things up and knowing that there are little things I have forgotten or have not attended to just yet....
But first, a huge CONGRATULATIONS to Toby Buckell on his major novel sale to Tor! WOOHOOO!!! Next, if you have not done so already, please be sure to read Greg van Eekhout's intense SF Christmas story "In The Late December."
Things around here are still messy. The grafitti on the wall has been cleaned up and then a week later they came back and did it again, worse than before -- so it had to be cleaned up again. I guess this is going to be an ongoing problem. Otherwise, I am pretty much done with all the construction I can afford, and the rest of the money will be to keep me going for the next two years in my attempt to remain a fulltime freelancer.
There may have been a Semyon sighting. I think it was him, fighting with one of our other cats, Sasha, over in the river basin, some time at night a couple of days ago. Which means he is roaming here around the house! Now if only he'd come home!
Meanwhile I am trying to clean up the house and get it as neat as it has never been ever since I moved in -- it is not merely me puttering around but a way to bring order into my existence and start me in the right foot as an orderly and organized and 100% deadly serious writer in 2004. *grin* I visited an accountant last week and yes I do feel much better about my tax situation and finances in general.
I am also scribbling a bit on a new story. Should be doing the novel, but no, this one sort of crept in uninvited into my brain.
Also, received an invitation to be a program participant at Noreascon Four, filled it out online, and while I was at it, also purchased a full attending membership. I guess that means I really am going to worldcon. *grin* However the hotel and airfare will have to wait until a bit later in the new year....
Saw ROTK twice. Once on opening day, and the second time on Christmas night. It is a heartrending masterpiece and deserves an Oscar.
Today got a chance to see my good college friend Janice Sakata Samuelson who came down from Colorado. Will see her again on Monday, and also our mutual friend Lauren Oliver. And talking about friends, congratulations to Wendi Gansen who had a second baby daughter on December 17th! WOOHOO!!!
And the shiny and hope-filled prospect of the New Year is getting closer....
Sunday 12-14-03
NEWSFLASH!
The new windows are all done. Yesterday the last remaining window -- in my bedroom -- was replaced with a dual hung energy efficient one, and now the cleanup of the house begins. *grin* I can even get a rebate on the new install from the gas company.
Just as I thought that all was over for this year's round of construction and home improvement, I made a sad and maddening discovery. As I drove by the bridge over the LA River that is just next to our house, I noticed some horrible ugly HUGE grafitti defacing our brand new stone wall on the river side! The taggers must have done their ugly deed just this past week, and I think I even know when, since I heard some strangers in the back alley on Wednesday mid morning as I was waiting for late constriction workers. Anyway, the grafitti is huge and elaborate and dark blue and red. It made me absolutely furious. I already reported the grafitti to LA's Operation Clean Sweep and am hoping that it can be removed without repainting. Damn! I so love the natural warm beige shade of the bricks, and I do not want to paint over them! I love this wall! ARGH!
Meanwhile, I have made an appointment for Tuesday with a CPA to help me with the LA business tax issue that has to be resolved before the year's end, and feel better about it, now that a tax pro is going to help me.
No writing done whatsoever, but I did get a new story idea out of the blue and some fragments of other story ideas in my project files. Also got a poem rejection from Asimov's.
I've been also gorging myself on the DVDs of Buffy Season Five, and this stuff is intense!
Seriously major congratulations to Murray Williams who has successfully defended his master's thesis, to Paul Melko who made another sale to Asimov's and Talebones, happy birthday to Tim Pratt, and welcome back to blogging, Gabe Chouinard. :-)
Friday 12-5-03
NEWSFLASH!
So much has happened and is still happening -- where to start?
Loscon was wonderful, and I still have hopes of coming up with a con report, but in brief, on Sunday I got aded onto an extra panel (that no one told me about until the day before), so had to go back there to do this one:
- Sunday, 11:30 AM - "The Art & Craft of Writing" - Sunset B
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Laura Frankos
Vera Nazarian
Right after the panel was over, I got into my jeep and drove about 40 miles to the Harbor Animal Shelter and adopted this little guy right here. :-) His name is Slavik, and he is a 4-month old male tabby, and he had to be neutered, so I actually had to drive back to the harbor area the next day (December 1st) and pick him up. He is a complete sweetie, but was a bit weak and had a flu-like infection, so our regular vet saw him on Wednesday and he is recovering well, and eating and PURRING like a motor engine. That is the good joyous news here in the household.
The sad news is that our other kitten Semyosha is still missing. *sigh* I am not giving up hope. Checking shelter photos every day, will be putting up signs in the neighborhood, and continuing to pray for the best....
The replacement windows for the house are finally going to be installed on Monday, so that is a milestone. The hectic madness of the last month is coming to an end, and not a moment too soon, since the pressure is just insane. But at least is is all constructive good stuff, so I am not complaining. This weekend is my friends Stella and Dave Bloom's gingerbread house party in San Diego, so I'll be heading down that way for a day on Sunday, and then coming back in time to crash and get up on Monday and deal with construction and moving furniture and things around the house.
In good writing news, earlier this week SF Crowsnest reviewed DREAMS OF THE COMPASS ROSE and it is a very nice one. :-)
Caught up in all this, and recuperating from a nasty cough and cold, I haven't been writing, except for my "Cabinet #84" entry in Jeff VanderMeer's HOUSE WITH 87 CABINETS online community writing project over at the Night Shade Books Forum. (Scroll all the way to the bottom, mine is third from the bottom at this point, and the others are just amazing!)
Finally, I'll leave you with a bunch of fun quizzes I've taken recently, and my results....
You are most similar to James Joyce's Finnegans
Wake. You are complex, well read, and
fascinating. I love you. I love you more
every time I see you. You are the ultimate
person.
To which work of fiction on my shelf are you most similar?
brought to you by Quizilla
Your soul is bound to the Yellow Rose: The
Gentle.
"I've travelled through the land of
surrender and seen it all. I throw my heart
out and keep my head up, and now I travel
through the land of peace."
The Yellow Rose is associated with friendship,
intuition, and fun. It is governed by the
goddess Hestia and its sign is The Intertwined
Rings, or True Friendship.
As a Yellow Rose, you always look out for your
friends. You would much rather have strong
ties with friends than a single tie with a
lover and your devotion to your friends is
clear. You may have great intuition and be
able to read emotions clearly, but sometimes
you can seem distant yourself.
What Rose Is Your Soul Bound To?
brought to you by Quizilla
You are Trinity, from "The Matrix."
Strong, beautiful- you epitomize the ultimate
heroine.
What Matrix Persona Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Morgaine
You are the ultimate priestess, learned and
disciplined by harsh realities. You are wise
and compassionate, but have you forgiven
yourself?
Which Mists Of Avalon character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla
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