Where Personal and Professional Life Collide...

[Poll #1965029]


EtA: why do I have the feeling that y'all are voting "wing it" just for the eventual on-the-road tweetathon amusement?

oh look, directed market research! "And remember, this is for posterity so be honest."

[Poll #1741976]


Feel free to give commentary/feedback in comments, too. Example: if you say "depends on format" then what format would you want?

[Poll #1651241]


poll is for polling purposes only. decision of the readers is not binding upon the author. void where restricted by law or good taste. no purchase required but greatly appreciated.

Yeah okay, not quite posting Saturday as promised. Better late than later...

From last week's Tuesday Feline Picspam Caption Contest, your nominees...

NOTE: PLEASE CHOOSE ONE! (I had to break the poll for space restrictions only, not multiple choice!)

[Poll #1460229]

While I was working on Free Fall and Blood From Stone, I was putting together PB's backstory in my head -- and writing it down as a short story set before the events in Staying Dead. Portions of that story were used in those books, and so I've never done anything with the story itself....

But there is, apparently, some fannish interest in reading it. So. If I were to put it into an easily downloadable PDF format and post it at BookView Cafe, would you toss a few coins in the storyteller's bowl?

[Poll #1336733]

(note: the story itself is 5,000+ words long. This isn't a snippet.)

So, in 2009 we have Blood From Stone coming out in May, and Vineart War: Flesh & Fire coming out in late October. Time for me to start planning how best to spread the word/seduce readers...which means getting my posterior out of the chair and on the road. WIthin certain inevitable financial restrictions, natch.

I'm already set on a few local conventions (Balticon, hopefully, and Readercon), and I really want to do World Fantasy, but there are a bunch of summer conventions that are pushing and shoving each other to get to the top of the list. So... opinions?


[Poll #1297252]

- next chunk of Vineart War notations (aka draft 1.2)
- reread CURSE THE DARK and BRING IT ON for final errata sheet for reprints (if anyone spotted any typos, now's the time to tell me!)
- write "author notes" for same
- test-drive recipes for semi-sekrit project
- updates to web site

also: order groceries, finish putting summer clothes into storage, clip cat-nails. Oh, the excitement. Also, Giants game, natch.

Meanwhile, it looks to be another perfect September day, aiding immensely in my energy level. I enjoy all the distinct seasons of living in the Northeast, but I'm definitely an Autumnal girl -- cool mornings, soft afternoons, and then crisp sleeping weather come dusk, FTW.

Thinking book-wise (because that's how I'm thinking these days) how often do we see that kind of affinity in characters? The narrative may mention the weather, but do the characters actually interact with it on an emotional as well as physical level? Hrmm. Something to look at in my own writing. And now I'm wondering what the percentage breakdown is, and how many of us find ourselves in the right part of the world for our predilections...

[Poll #1263616]

Spent Sunday afternoon hidden in a downtown bar with a bunch of fellow Giants fans, some early-arriving Jets fans, a few random Redskin fans, and a bunch of very rowdy and enthusiastic Detroit fans who got very very quiet as the game ended. Sorry, guys. But I was rooting against you just because your fight song was so damn annoying. For those of you who don't follow such things -- yeah, the Giants won (41-13).

Mass transit to/from the game: $4
A steak-and-eggs brunch and two pints of Bass -- $35
Being carded by the bouncer: priceless.
Being hit on by a 20-something Jets fan: hysterical.

But now it is Monday, the weekend has been rolled up and put to rest, and I'm back to the desk. And I've realized that trying to balance what the Story needs with the Actual Process of wine-making is making me second-guess the readership for Vineart War. The history/geography/politics/religion I have no trouble messing with -- readers understand second world/sidestep fantasy as not-quite-but-like. But how will people respond to something less malleable -- a scientific process, after all -- as being not-quite-but-like? Especially if they too are fans of the process and the results?

EtA: I'm not (hopefully) talking an infodump, but the details of the process as an ongoing thread within the books)

So, to reduce my headache, I'm actually asking the readership (or you guys, anyway):
[Poll #1259845]

In a different Universe, for those who don't want to wait for their news, there was an update to The Cosa Nostradamus OnLine over the weekend...

[Poll #1234400]

[Poll #1157526]

I've discovered I use both, depending on the situation and who I'm talking to, which is...odd. I'm assuming "turn off" is the more common variation, but I can't figure out where I picked up the other... is this an East Coast thing? A Jersey thing? A "we've only spoken English for three generations" remnant of Yiddish being the common lingua of earlier generations?

(further conversation suggestions that it's an older usage, having to do with drawing curtains/turning down a lantern as much as turning 'off' electrical lights. Ah, language, how you do evolve....)

EtA: "Turn out" is getting some votes, too, and one for "shut the light." Hrmmmm...