suricattus

And now, having allowed myself to get worked up and let down in a relatively short time, my brain has decided that of course it's time to have a fit of Oh Woes teh Career sux nobody fangrrls/boys me never gonna be (fill in blank).

And I made it worse by having a small but deadly piece of fudge on an empty stomach. Gilman, thy moniker is "Idiot."

As my therapist once said, it would be easier if I actually was manic/depressive. Instead, I maintain a normally even keel, with occasional short, tight rebounds where I know if I just sit tight my sense of humor will recover, my emotional balance will return, and I'll be fine.

As High Maintenance Dramatic Creative Types go, I'm not very dramatic at all, and pretty much self-maintaining. I feel like I failed, somehow.

*removes tongue from cheek embedment*


On the plus side, my knife arrived and it is shiny! and fits perfectly in my hand, and there is butternut squash soup and savory chicken stew filling up the freezer, and I have brand new 300+ count sheets to sleep in, and there is red wine to have with the brown rice and steak for dinner, and I wrote another 2,000+ new words I'm pleased with and did research for the short story I'm not writing yet.

And I no longer want to beweep my outcast state (although I might yet change my state with kings)


So I guess my balance is back. Sometimes it's good to be predictable.

Things to do this month:

- Write approximately 30,000 new words on Bonnie #3
- Read over Bonnie #2 to make sure everything's in order, timeline and plot-wise
- Start plotting out Vineart3 while waiting for M'amselle Editrix's notes on V2.
- Work on compiling the Cosa Nostradamus material for Bookview Cafe
- Get Boomerang to the vet at some point
- Start actually, y'know, planning the trip to Dublin.
- Make a dent in what's left of my TBR in 2009 pile
- Sell some books, industry and agency willing, so I don't starve in 2011.


oh yeah, and do the Holiday/Social Thing. Am keeping it intentionally low-key this year... for the first time in years I'm not traveling in December/January*, and I need to see how it feels (I suspect I'll hate it, and be back to my "new city every new year" routine in 2011!)




*although, technically, this is my first time ever celebrating in NYC....

Just realized I'd never posted the winner of the last Feline Picspam Caption Contest! My bad.

There were a lot of good entries, and I finally decided on a tie for first place:

And on the count of four, the epic thumb-wrestling* tournament will begin... isabeau
and
Cat Fight: the energy-saver version neko_san

Step forward and name your prize, folks!


Today I went into Manhattan with The Folks to check out the new Costco up on 116th St. It is indeed a CostCo (although without the liquor section, which made me sad). I was restrained in my acquisitions because I was taking the bus back, but fully expect to rent a car and head down later in the month when I start party prep. Also, bulk cat fud. Yay! (I save about .10/can buying from CostCo vs local supermarket)

Overall, though, it's still an OMG Ack! Scary Consumer place.


And then I came home and collapsed for an hour. Too much noise, too many people, too many reminders of why I tend to avoid mid-lower Manhattan in December... except the Holiday Craft Fairs are up and running! And the skating rink's open! And.. oh hell. If I kill a tourist or two, nobody will mind, right?

Anyone else out there find the "OMG Jollility! Festive Mood! Now!" attitude of merchants and overenthusiastic celebrants to be, shall we say, wearying? Is there a single city or town in North America that keeps it toned down and household-bound? Because I'm really tempted to move there, one month out of every year...

So very much to do this week, and my brain wants no part of any of it. Of the eight things on my to-do list today (the max allowed for realistic accomplishment), I got... 5 done. Ok, that's not too bad.

And I did make a start at organizing year-end finances and prepping for next year's budget. So that's good, if depressing.


Now, off to the SFWA Editors & Agents party (aka "the Mill'n'Swill" a term for which I share blame with Ginjer Buchanan for coining, amusingly enough). I try not to miss this party, not just because it's a fun evening with many people I enjoy spending time with, but also because it marks the anniversary of my leap into full-time freelancing. 2003's Mill'n'Swill, I was clutching my Brand!New!Cover! for STAYING DEAD and giddy with the fact that, come December, I would no longer be chained to a 9-5 (or, in that job's case, an 8-6).

I am told I was practically glowing, that night. There are days, six years later, I still feel that glow.


So, although my actual first day as a freelancer comes later, Correction: I checked my paperwork and it IS today! this is the day I mark it, with quiet satisfaction and a well-earned toast to myself. :-)

There is something surreal about discovering that someone you've known for a decade has known someone else for a decade+ who knows someone you've known for a decade+...and none of those circles ever intersected until tonight.

Ah, NYC, how I do love you so.

For SFWA members: Dr. Lawrence posts about the new Nebula process. If you don't already know, you might want to take a look. And hey, both BLOOD FROM STONE and FLESH AND FIRE are eligible! M'just sayin...



Saturday opened with a brunch gathering of what I refer to as the North City Irregulars -- industry folk who live in the northern tip of NYC (as opposed to all those Downtown/Brooklyn hipsters). I was indulgent and had waffles. With syrup! We met at a local diner, and Gossip was had. Then I went home and clobbered some work (and cleaning) before heading out to the SFSNNJs "Face the Fiction" which had invited Sue Lange, Susan Wright and myself to come talk about Book View Cafe (www.bookviewcafe.com), after which Sue and Susan fled for their respective beds, while I went along with the attendees to their local diner.

You can take the girl out of Jersey, you just can't get her out of the diners.

Special thanks to Bill W, for getting me back home safe, if not quite sound.... (yeah, I went thud the moment I hit the elevator)

Also had the very...interesting experience of Boomerang being introduced to a new person, and having my usually affectionate boycat (referred to as "Mr Gregarious" by someone who knows him well) not only be uneasy when first introduced, but when encouraged to make nice, sniff the stranger's hand and then back up. Not just a backward movement, but five or six distinct steps in the direction of Away.

Hrmmm.

(Pandora, as usual, was Madame Not Appearing in this Movie)

Sunday is laundry, cleaning, cooking, revisions. Productive as hell, but boring to blog about.

Exhibit opening & dinner tonight. Brunch tomorrow. BookViewCafe presentation tomorrow night. A bye on Sunday, thank the football gods. A business cocktail party on Monday, and a social one on Tuesday. And then Philcon, and the SFWA Reception, and then off to Boston the Wednesday after.

Eeeep?


Meanwhile, keeping to my promise to bring VINEART WAR #2 in under 110,000 words, the draft is at... 109,400. Go, me. Of course, no promises are made as to what it will look like once Mam'selle Editrix has her way with it...

High tides and the remnants of the tropical storm, plus a low front... all the makings, oh yeah. Already lost an (inexperienced) surfer to violent waves, as per this morning's news, and the wind's going to be a significant factor in getting around today.

If you're in a coastal zone, keep your boots on and your windows closed, 'k? The rest of us, stay as dry and un-buffeted as you can...



[I don't see this becoming a nor'easter of even minor legend -- unless the winds pick up significantly, it's just going to be an annoyance for most of us -- but it's not going to be fun, either)

Spent all day today trying to push through and get last details done and loose ends tied up, and I'm still not done, damn it. The yays today have seriously been outweighed by the boos. Thankfully they've all been of the minor pinch-boos rather than anything dire, so I'm going to call that a Yay.

I was kinda bummed to get a rejection in the mail on a short story -- never mind that I didn't think it would result in a sale first time out, you always, quietly, hope. Tomorrow, after some thought, it will go out again. Because that part of the game never changes.

EtA: and the best phrase of the day comes from Madame Editrix: "crises fairies" As in "The crises fairies are exhausted now, and will leave you alone."


So.. what's a major yay in the world? Anything? Come on, somebody's had to have had a YAY! day....

yay: *quiet travel-related squee*

boo: my knee is borked again. This getting older business? Not designed wwith considerations to joint wear and tear. I do not approve.

boo/yay: a weekend of really frustrating editorial clean-up (revisions and copyedits I disagreed with) is finally done. Boo for it happening, yay for coming out the other side (mostly)

yay: stew is stewing, and the surprise! fajita strips I defrosted with the stew meat has been turned into a sort of-but-not-really orange beef. nom nom nom. And there was cabbage salad, which is also nom. And the last of my Zinfandel from Stephen & Walker/Trust Winery Ltd, which is boo but it was delish so that's a yay.

serious boo: Giants losing the game in the last damned minute.

yay: got my exercise in.

yay: another day avoiding the WFC plague-bug, despite sniffles on waking.

*counts up the score* Yay Day!


How 'bout y'all?

How the HELL did November and December get booked up already? What was I thinking?

Seriously, January? I'm gonna lock the doors and not come out.


To do before Monday:

- e-copyedit for THE HUNTED (the next Anna Leonard paranormal romance)
- author letter for HARD MAGIC
- final pre-editor polish on VINEART 2
- revisions to MUSTANG
- revisions on "Dusted"

oh yeah, and the signing in Ledgewood, NJ on Saturday. And I promised to go to the Interfictions soiree tomorrow night.

Wheee?

Time for more Archie and Nero Wolfe.



*no, really. They participated in a survey for Parksinsons' patients and got those hand-squeezer things in the shape of brains. Squissshy braaaaains!

I guess I really was tired, because I went to bed somewhere around midnight (despite being wired from the trip home), woke up at 6 because Pandora demanded feeding, and then went back to sleep until, oh, about five minutes ago.

I'm still tired, but coffee should take the edge off that.

Meanwhile, congrats to my fellow members of BookView Cafe, on the launch of BookView Press -- http://www.thebookseller.com/news/101627-sci-fi-collective-goes-direct-via-kindle.html Go Team BVC!


Today involves sending off blurbs for some things I read while traveling, laundry, answering publisher e-mails [prep for HARD MAGIC and THE HUNTED], following-up on some loose job-ends, and actually putting some new words on down on the page. And, um, ordering groceries. Yeah.

It is, btw, a gorgeous autumn day, crisp and cool, with sunpools for felines to nap in. Good day for working.

Hi. I'm home.


It was a long two weeks. Some great times, some good times, some times I could have lived without, but overall...yeah, it was two weeks.

*tired grin*

Reminder: I'm still collecting visual evidence of Flesh and Fire in the wild!


I had a dream last night ( details here ) I make no pretense at being able to explain it, that's just where my brain was, last night.

And lo, the book is launched and I move on to other things. My daily to-do list has 12 things on it (that's the max allowed) and none of them are "ten minutes and you're done" items. Best get to't....

Went to see Tosca @ the Met today. Not my favorite opera -- the music is beautiful but the plot holes are terrifying even for opera -- but it was enjoyable. The staging was interesting even if I didn't agree with some of the choices (and I can see why the critics aren't thrilled with it, although I think some of that is "ewww, new cooties! It has new cooties!"

The real problem with Tosca, though, is that I have to fight the urge to recast it w/ Miss Piggy and Kermit. Hard to concentrate on the stage, after that.

(oh come on. Tosca is so totally Miss Piggy. Cavaradossi as Kermit, and Scarpia as... Sam the Eagle's evil brother?)

But anyway. Long day, followed by pesto & sun-dried tomato pizza, and home now not to collapse but work. Because that's how the bills get paid around here....