just your friendly neighborhood book pusher...

Many years ago -- many MANY years ago -- I worked with a young writer...

okay, she was older than I was, but only just, and this was so long ago I was a mere pup myself.

A different century, even.

Okay, look, it was 1992, okay? Back when she was writing as Roxanne Longstreet and I was a wee baby editor at Berkley. And we didn't work together long but we worked together well, and I when I went to Roc I got to buy a new series from her called the Weather Warden series, and got to watch as she got all famous 'n shit and....


Wait. You, in the back. You don't know from Rachel Caine?

Dude. Where you BEEN?

Okay, all right, I can remedy this.

Today, UNSEEN,the third book in Outcast Season is released.


And for those of you who haven't been keeping up, I'm going to give you a chance to discover the caramel popcorn can't-stop-reading fun that is a Rachel Caine book FROM THE BEGINNING, by winning a copy of Book 1 of the Outcast series, UNDONE.


All you have to do is email me at lag/at/lauraannegilman/dot/net and tell me you need it BAD, before Friday, February 4th at 6am.

As usual, The Oracular Cat will pick one winner in Her Feline Random Manner.

and lo, it begins... (the bathroom renovation saga)

Actual conversation in my head:

Self, you should clean the bathroom before people get here. (pause) Gilman, they're coming to DEMO the bathroom. They won't care if the sink's messy.


So, right now they* are covering the floor with plywood and the bookcases with plastic tarps, and making note of what goes and what stay. The demo guys are scheduled to begin at 10am. The cats are already in hiding in the bedroom. The person is preparing to hide in her corner of the apartment (the living room, kitchen and office).

Updates as they happen.
-------------------

10:15am My side of the apartment is now isolated by a plastic wall with a zipper-door. I feel very writer-inna-bubble. Cats still hiding. Line to sink shut off without *crosses fingers* a problem.

10:17am - workers are reminded that I speak a smidge of Spanish.

10:33: the old-fashioned wall hamper has been removed (and stored, I'm keeping it!)

10:40: I realize the new outline needs a fourth third. "Something happens here, no idea what. Revelations are made."

10:56: the sink/vanity has been removed, likewise the medicine cabinet. Sounds of tile being hacked off walls is rather disturbing...

11:09: the rest of the crew shows up. I'm afraid to look and see what they're here to do...

11:25: buckets of broken tile being hauled out. Boomer is under the bed and refuses to come out even for reassurances. Pandora is nervous, but visible.

12:05: super came by to scold the hauling-out guys for leaving stuff in front of the door. For the record, they are not part of my contractor's team. Noise continues. How much tile is IN there?

1:15: back from lunch. Cats still in hiding (they aren't even coming out for food). Crashing of tiles has been replaced by the dull thumping of...something. I'm afraid to look...

1:30: Ack. Looked. Tile around tub enclosure is gone. Tile behind sink is gone. Floor remains...for now. Pandora was willing to stick her head out of the bedroom, but then ran right back in. Boomer still refusing to come out from under the bed. My big wussy boy.

2:20. Silence falls. Most of the workers depart. The sound of one broom sweeping...

2:33: the cats emerge

2:40: the cats decide they want none of this, and go back into the bedroom.

( proof of work )

2:55: drywall materials being brought in and stacked. Cats glaring like it's MY fault (oh wait, it is.)

3pm: washing out the tub and bringing out the shop-vac to clear away some of the demo dust before they pack it in. Five hours to utterly (nearly) demolish a bathroom.

3:23: I sit corrected: they are installing the greenboard tonight. Yay for an additional layer of insulation....

So now I have no walls where there had been tile, some bare greenboard, and no floor. I do, however, have a working toilet and if I really wanted to, could take a bath (carefully). I think I'll hit the gym for a shower, instead....

Tomorrow the plumber arrives. This is where it could get tricky... (and by tricky I mean painful)



*they being my contractor and his two foremen. And you know you've got a relationship with your contractor when the first thing he asks you is how the new book is doing, and the second thing he mentions is that he saw your dad walking the puppy a few days ago.... [he not only did my kitchen but my folks' kitchen and bathroom. If anyone in the NYC are wants a contractor, he comes with high marks]