This is my first time working a holiday weeken at a tasting room, and so far all I have to say is that it's the fun, happy-making kind of ohmyfuckinggod exhausting.  :-)

And one of the more amusing moments came when a group of 30-somethings came in on Friday, and were teasing each other, and one of them said something that was on the surface reasonably innocent but really wasn't, and I cracked up - and they saw that and were all "she knows what that meant!"

Oh, children. Yes, you invented innuendo and gay slang, you totally did. But we rolled with it, causing me to at one point say "don't tease the person pouring your wine." And they became perfect little angels. :-)

13 days until the second-pass draft of Book 2 of THE DEVIL'S WEST is supposed to be done.

*looks at pile of notes, giggles slightly hysterically*

If not today, then certainly by Saturday I will have hit peak performance panic mode. Fair warning for anyone in my actual vicinity Slide a pizza under the door and set up the coffee iv, willya?

(professional writer on a closed track. Do not try this with adult supervision)

Oh, and did I mention that Ms. Kornetsky has a new book out in two weeks?

Meanwhile, in feline TV news, there were four, count 'em four birds on the balcony this morning - three house finches, and a single unidentified hummingbird.

Castiel managed to not run headfirst into the glass door, this time.

CatofSize has given up on the entire household and retreated under the bed in disgust.

CatofSize isn't sure if he's having a bad morning or is just in a Grumpy Old Man stage. Sometimes it's hard to tell the difference...  And I probably should stop referring to having to shoot the cat. New people (and some older ones) keep reading it all wrong. ;-)

But hey, being up at 6am and thinking "I need to write" and being able to sit down and write... we're doing okay here, for a Wednesday.

Oh, and I'm in the barrel for WWW Wednesday, over at Book View Cafe.

An interesting take on the difference between reddit and tumblr fandom that's both gender-directed and possibly explains a lot about our wider culture...

Meanwhile, out there in the world, our own Elizabeth Bear's dad, Stephen Wishnevsky of Wishbass, had his workshop destroyed by fire. There's a gofundme set up to help him rebuild. If you're a musician, specifically, you might want to take a look, not only to help out but to maybe pick up a new toy once he's rebuilt...

And Mette Ivie Harrison, on How Writers get Paid, if you ever wondered, or thought you knew...

Oh, and because that remids me I need to remember to self-promote every now and again, a reminder that you can pre-order the 4th Gin & Tonic mystery now at the following lovely locations:

B&N Kobo Seattle Mystery Bookstore Mysterious Galaxy Indigo/Chapters Amazon

that Ms. Kornetsky was up at XOXOAfterDark yesterday!


(I'm blaming the old and the new fridge for me being...distracted)

1. SILVER ON THE ROAD, being deemed readable by mine agent, is now with mine editor, as is GIN & TONIC #4 (different editor). I am thereby released from all - oh wait, I still have two novellas to finish by September. On it, boss.

2. I have copies in my own greedy little hands of DOGHOUSE (Gin & Tonic #3)!! There will be a contest, most likely next week when America's recovered from our three-day holiday weekend and picnic-a-thon. But you know, you can order your own copy now, too...

3. The new iPad mini has officially been named. We ran through a number of suggestions and ideas, including Dum-E, Loiosh, Bucky, Jeeves, etc, but I finally determined that the iPad Mini has just enough evil in its brilliance, just enough petulance in its helpfulness, and is just wee enough that it really needs to be…

Sterling.

Friday I postponed lunch plans and spent all day working on G&T #4, getting it ready for deadline on the 1st, then hied myself off to a friend's surprise birthday celebration (and we actually kept it a surprise! I knew the 11-year-old could do it but was less certain about the 45-year-old...)

Saturday I spent the early morning hours working, then hied off into Manhattan to meet up with neadods and Mo (who has an LJ I'm sure but I'm blanking on it), who were in to see a show.  There was lunch at Molyvos, where the conversation ranged from Adult Financial Stuff to discussions of technology and from there to AO3 pr0n (as one does), and then I went off to upgrade my tech while they saw their show (an off-Broadway performance that was reportedly quite wonderful), and then there was drinks in an outdoor atrium where conversation was wide-ranging again and may have involved some very long-term planning for 2016....  (and also the realization of how long we've all known each other, which is both wonderful and...kinda depressing.  I'm HOW old again?).
And then I aimed them at their bus, and went home to...well, I was supposed to get more work done.  I may have indulged in a few more episodes of the SPN summer rewatch.

Sunday I spent the morning working on G&T #4 again, then headed off to JFK to reclaim my brother-in-law and sister from where I'd left them three weeks ago.  Have I mentioned recently how much I hate JFK Airport?  Because OMFG the hate is legendary (and my sister's first words, on meeting up with the car, was "oh my god this airport is horrible!").  But they have been collected, and reclaimed their car, and I am once again a properly car-less New Yorker as god and the mayor intended.

[having a car is nice.  but when you use it once a week, at most, 'nice' doesn't offset the cost or the annoyances, IME]

And now I am going to feed the cats, make some dinner, and go back to work. Because the book's due on the 1st, and my brain's screaming "no we need to do one more pass!  Maybe two!"