Avoided malls yesterday but we did go to the Manchester Outlets which were busy but not insanely crowded. Other folks purchased clothes, but I finished the day without spending a dime. Only place I was tempted was the Northshire Bookstore, but managed to resist due to a combination of the size of my TBR stack, their small history section and a visit on Wednesday to Flights of Fantasy.

Hitting vacation overload--looking forward to getting back home to my own space, my own routine, and hoping to get caught up on at least some stuff around the house before work on Monday. December will be crazy busy between work and the holidays, and it's going to be 2010 before we know it.

Heading out to lunch at a popular local pub known for its selection of draft beers--not just an indulgence, thanks to the Ur-Bar project this is now vital research .

And finally, sending good wishes to all my friends working retail hell this weekend!

Things I am thankful for...

I didn't have to go with my wife and daughter to watch New Moon.

Hmmm. Let's see. Everything else sort of pales in comparison with that.

We're back! Did you miss us?

We realized at the ninth hour that we were both strung out from working too hard and too much, and that adding the making of Thanksgiving Dinner to that was going to be More Work rather than a pleasant break. That being realized, we went looking for a restaurant taking reservations for Thanksgiving Dinner and found -- zip, zero, none, in Waterville. There were, however, four restaurants open on t'day for dinner in the vicinity of Old Orchard Beach. So! Having also realized that we had worked right through our anniversary, we made dinner reservations -- snagging the last two places at the table -- at the Grand Beach Inn Cafe, and found ocean front accommodations at the Sea Cliff House.

It was foggy, cool and intermittently rainy at the ocean. We did the Wednesday evening dinner at JJs Too, one of our Usual Places, and tarried to listen to the live music. Thursday, we walked, napped, did some story planning, played cards, made it to dinner (which was splendid) on time, and in general had a good rest. Yesterday morning, the nor'easter's fingers had just crept over the dunes, and we drove home in alternating bands of heavy and not-so-heavy rain. Here, the rain was heavy and wind-driven on the overnight, and has settled in to merely heavy this morning.

The cats were glad to see us; Hexampuma told us a story about the people who used to live here, who went away one day and Never Came Back, and snuggled into my lap. Mozart stretched out on the dining room table while I got my computer back online, rested his chin on my arm and purred. Scrabble had paperwork for us to go over -- but allowed as how it could wait until after she had been brushed, and the food bowls replenished.

Today is a writing day -- and tomorrow, too. I have looked at my email (of which more, possibly, later), but -- today is a writing day, and tomorrow, too.

Those who celebrate T'day -- how'd it go this year?

Everybody -- what's on deck for your weekend?

Wonderful wind that makes the wires moan. I was walking under them--they were swaying and making ghostly sounds. In the white pines, the wind was hissing. In the bare trees, it was singing out waves and surf. It was flinging first one handful and then another of black birds into and across the sky--like pepper.

http://windling.typepad.com/blog/2009/11/im-away-with-the-fairies-until-tuesday.html

I'm away with the fairies until Tuesday . . . .

nineweaving had spam this morning containing the phrase "submersible moonphase" and asks for poetry or flash fiction.

To the Aegean she tosses the moonpath,
rippling highway of silken silver
if you could walk it, if you could
take that first step, if you could
keep your balance as she rises
you could dance with Artemis
beside Apollo Eleven.

Our oceans are her cloak
tossed over her arm,
dragging behind her
glinting, glimmering,
shot through with silver
waxing, waning
tugged by her tides.

Still she stands poised
rising full over the mountain's rim
a great silver coin
as if a push would roll her
splashing coldly down at Kythera
impossible, underwater
submersible moonphase.

A few days ago I linked my image for the 2009 conbook cover, which I'll put here again:


MFF Conbook Cover 2009

(The building in that picture is the black one here, the name of which I do not know. That is one of the pictures I used as a reference for the key card image, though.)

And then I got to thinking and looked up the conbook cover I did for 2003, when I was Guest of Honor the first time:


MFF Conbook Cover 2003: Alysha Resplendent

I'm not a huge fan of cities, but for some reason, Chicago with its strong Art Deco influence says something to me, and whenever I draw anything related to Chicago or MFF that influence rises to the surface. Perhaps New York would inspire the same impulse; I've only seen New York briefly but what I did see was intense.

Anyway, we went downtown on Saturday evening to have dinner, and it was like... magic, I guess. Just as unbelievable to me as those storybooks full of snow and white Christmases, a glittering downtown full of people at night, with horse-drawn carriages in bumper-to-bridle traffic with cabs and stretch SUVs.



I have a sense now for why Georgia O'keeffe could spend so much time painting flowers and canyons... and then turn around and paint buildings and street lamps. I itch to do the same.


Stardancer Home.

I am SO not allowed to watch nature documentaries anymore.

Yesterday morning, Patrick took out MrD to give me a chance to rest after an awful night of interrupted sleep. I looked on the BBC iPlayer and saw that there was an episode of Natural World available called "Bringing Up Baby". It was all about mothers and babies in the wild.

Oh good, I thought. I should find that interesting.

When Patrick got home an hour later, I was sobbing uncontrollably.

"...and the mother lion was roaring and fighting to protect them, but then he killed her babies in front of her and she was in so much agony as she had to watch...and then the penguin mother couldn't get back with food fast enough, and her baby was dead!...and then...and then..."

Patrick finally managed to interrupt. "Why in God's name would you watch that documentary?"

I blew my nose. "Well, David Attenborough was narrating, so I knew it would be good...and I thought that episode would be the most topical one for me, since I'm bringing up a baby right now..."

It was a bit too topical for either me or my hormones to cope with, it turns out. On the plus side, I feel very grateful to have been born human, after watching that film. But I'm going to feel emotionally shattered for a long time whenever anyone mentions lions...or penguins...or fur seals...or lemurs...or far too many other kinds of animals!

Those wildlife documentaries are NOT a good idea for mothers of babies to watch. They really ought to come with warning labels.

***
In completely more uplifting news, though, there are still two days left to enter my Thanksgiving giveaway! And Joan Bauer's Squashed has only ever made me laugh, even after watching traumatizing documentaries. ;)

The (not quite) Perfect Boyfriend, Lili Wilkinson.

Over-imaginative Imogen has several problems - her mother, her best friend Tahni, her imaginary boyfriend from England. When a real English boy with the same name turns up at school, Tahni assumes this is Midge's Ben - and Ben saves her from total humiliation by going along with it. But secrets and lies come at a price - if not now, then later. And Midge has a lot to learn about the power of the truth.

OKAY. I am in love with Midge. Three pages in, she starts freaking out about misplaced quotation marks, she spends slow class periods picking out the spelling mistakes and misplaced apostrophes in the handouts, her claim to fame is winning the spelling bee, and every chapter opens with a word and dictionary definition. A WORD GEEK TEEN HEROINE, Y'ALL. I am there.

And as also evident in Lili's Pink (my review of which I cannot goddamn find, that'll teach me not to tag properly), there's a fantastic and sympathetic grasp of the varied geek experience. PostSecret provides narrative impetus, you guys! It's great.

Bookmark Days, Scot Gardner.

Farmgirl Avril and her city cousin Katie are best friends, but could hardly be more different. Avril can drive the ute and cook for twenty shearers - Katie knows what shoes go with what dress and how to make guys pay attention. And Avril is happy, where Katie is not. But the drama really starts when Avril falls for the boy next door - well, on the next farm - a member of the Carrington family, with whom her family's been feuding for three generations. Oooh, farmgirl Romeo and Juliet time, but with much less romanticised teenage stupidity.

A sometimes relevant fact about me is that, though I was never a real farm girl, I grew up in country towns, had friends on farms, and know a little bit about the isolated, hard work and absolute family commitment that goes into keeping a family farm alive. Bookmark Days rang really true to me. Of course, unless you're on one of the wee islands, New Zealand isolation is different from Australian isolation, because Australia is bloody huge. You can be a very long way from anywhere else, and completely at home.

Just in passing and in general, one of the things I am really loving about the Girlfriend series is that they all place a great deal on the importance of female friendships. Katie and Avril have some truly nasty fights, but they are both individually decent enough and collectively strong enough to rebuild.

The Indigo Girls, Penni Russon.

Zara, Mieke and Tilly are best friends for two weeks every year, when they're the Indigo Girls at the Indigo camping grounds. But this year Mieke is coming a week later, and alpha-girl Zara and pointy-brained Tilly have to work out how to operate without her as the bridge between them. In the process, they learn a lot about themselves and each other and are TOTALLY FREAKING ADORABLE ALL OVER THE PLACE.

I'm a Tilly-style girl myself, so getting into Zara's kinetic-foused brain was really awesome, particularly the descriptions of night-surfing. Hijinks also include text-stalking, costume parties, and a Brush With Death.

WARNING: Book will make you want to head to the beach immediately.

JPG: Thanksgiving III - sunset clouds

Posted using ShareThis

I know it's just an ad for knock-off watches, but the phrase is rather glorious. I am tempted to set a competition: for the best poem or flash fiction on the theme of "submersible moonphase."

Nine

I had been planning to go to the gay marriage rights march at Flinders Street today, but after some excitement last night I got a late start this morning. Or, this afternoon.

So I think I'm going to spend the day reading. I haven't done that for a while, and I have, courtesy my fabulous A+U editor, a bunch of the Girlfriend Fiction series - all short, girl-focused contemporary YA novels set in Australia, and so far, all utterly delightful. Which you sort of expect with people like Kate Constable and Lili Wilkinson doing the writing.

Mini-review time!

Winter of Grace, Kate Constable.

At an anti-war protest, Bridie witnesses an assault on a boy and helps to rescue him with her gorgeous bestie, Stella. But saving Jay means that he wants to save her too - he's a committed evangelist Christian, and Bridie finds herself ready and willing to welcome Jesus into her life. But her single mother, a biologist, is adamant that Christianity is poisonous lies - though she won't say why she's so very oppposed - and Stella is disgusted by what she sees as Bridie growing goody-goodness. Moreover, Bridie starts to question some aspects of her church. Does she really have to choose between family and God?

As you know, internets, I'm a committed atheist, and I have a lot of sympathy with Bridie's mother, in that I think teaching children that God will send them to hell if they're naughty is teaching them horrible lies. Believing that screwed me up for a while! But religion is certainly a huge and fulfilling part of many, many wonderful people's lives, including my mother, and I am equally unsympathetic to the viewpoint that all believers are clearly idiots, when they clearly are not. So Winter of Grace hit all the right spots for me on the religion front, and then EXTRA BONUS gave me an adorable love story, fun family interactions, and complex characterisation.

Hi there,

I'm new to the community and was wondering if I could get some tips. I've recently learned how to bind books, but I've only made covers using bookcloth and would like to branch out. They're kind of blah. Some of the covers on here are drop dead gorgeous, and I'd love to learn some new techniques.

Does anybody have any suggestions for websites or books with tutorials? I love some of the Japanese paper covers (how do you fasten the paper to a harder backing?) and so many other creative creations. At some point I'd like to use my art as a cover, but I don't know what type of media would work best.

Thanks!

I bought two spiders at breakfast, coveted silk thread and alpaca yarn, was on a panel about writing in other people's worlds, hung out in the lobby by registration talking to new friends, was on a panel about music and poetry in fiction, ate bruschetta and drank wine and talked about the movie and TV business with another new friend, coveted striped socks and silk scarves and fudge and a fabulous black witch's hat and a pair of earrings in the shape of angel wings, did a panel on collaborating with family and friends, was given three spindles, ate crab soup with friends I met at the beginning of this year, listened to Homespun Ceilidh Band, hula hooped (what is the appropriate verb for that?), and learned that chocolate, like sour cream, is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy (thank you, Cynthia!).

And that was just Friday. We haven't even gotten to the Clam Chowder Concert and the Regency ball.

Edited to add: Oh, and I was also gifted with yummy fruit leathers and two yarn ball bands in languages I can't read, including RUSSIAN. Estonian yarn shop FTW!!!

Administrative bits: I've been trying out PayPal's invoicing system and some people appear not to have received the invoices, so I'll be going back and sending email invoices to those I haven't received payments from. (If you've gotten an invoice and just haven't paid yet, don't worry, I'm not nagging, just making sure that all bases are covered!)

Big mailing of paid for pieces went today. Out of U.S. people will get mailed after the weekend as I had to pick up customs forms at the post office.

Creative bits: For those who don't wear pendants, I'm working on some brooches. I might do a special small sale when I have those done. I have a bug for love and light and passion phrases right now so I think my next big sale will be for Imbolc/Lupercalia/Valentine's Day pendants, and will happen in early January.

Hope those who celebrate it here had a good Thanksgiving!

15 enjoys playing SIMS, but this weekend as we spent time with relatives, I got to hear about her SIMS character's boyfriend. She was in love with him, but it turned out when she proposed, he felt only a crush for her and turned her down. But she kept trying to propose marriage and he kept turning her down. Once he said he was in a bad mood. Another time, he apparently felt like it wasn't a good moment. On and on, her SIMS girl kept getting turned down. But my daughter was very persistent in continuing the relationship. She decided that maybe her character needed to quit her job because she was making way more money than the boyfriend. Then she decided he needed a nicer house and she tried to make everything nice for him.

I know this is just a game, but it was a little disturbing to me. I told her that if she had a real boyfriend like that, I'd be telling her it was time to dump him long ago. She said that the boyfriend character kept making it seem like it was HER fault that things were going wrong in their relationship. Sound too familiar? Any needs that he had, she had to fix before he could be interested in furthering their relationship. Now that may be realistic, but seriously, it is time to move on when you discover that you are not a match.

I like bad boys as much as the next girl, I think. But this is too much. Tell me it isn't a harbinger of the future, when she will tell me that she has decided to "help" her boyfriend do his homework, because it really isn't fair that he gets worse grades than she does. Or worse, major in a less "threatening" career, so that more boys will be interested in her. There is such a thing as giving too much.

This movie is, and I mean no disrespect to Irish Setters, a classic Irish Setter of a movie: sleek, gorgeous, dumb as a bag of hammers. You don't go to this movie for plot or characterization (although it has some wonderful actors in it, including John Cusack and Chiwetel Eijiofor*). You go to it for destruction-porn, and on that level it's a rousing success.

*the older generation doesn't fare quite as well--poor Danny Glover wanders through the movie as the soggiest, most bewildered president ever, and George Segal has a part as the standard Roland Emmerich Old Jewish Guy (better, or at least more floridly, played by Judd Hirsch in Independence Day.)

Both two and four-legged.

Came home from shopping (groceries and hardware store) and was in the middle of putting stuff away when the Gabster horked up twice. I just about screamed, then started with the clean-up while watching her closely. Luckily, it turned out to not be an IBD hork--the Little Miss was way too perky afterwards, chewing on a bone to while away the time until lunch, which she devoured. I think the issue was the paper towel I found in said hork. King can eat paper towel with impunity, but Gaby apparently cannot.

She continues just fine. The giardia/crypto and GI panels both came back negative, making it even more likely that the issue is IBD. The only test outstanding is the allergy panel.

Over a week has passed since I caught the last basement mouse. I knew there was at least one more down there, and I doubted they were of the house mouse variety given that that they had chewed their way out of one plastic live trap and punched up the lid of the other. I had baited a metal trap with peanut butter and waited. And waited.

Finally. Today. I went down this afternoon and checked and found the peanut butter gone and not one but two mice in the trap. Larger than house mice, tan with white bellies. Either deer mice or white-footed mice. Kicked 'em out. Rebaited the trap. I have no idea if there are any more down there, but I will keep the trap down there for the winter, I think.

Blackhawks got their bells rung today by the Ducks. They played like they were ready to come home. I hope they wake up in time for the Kings tomorrow.

I cannot bear to think that the what, three? of you who don't read glvalentine 's journal might miss this video: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Cake's "Love You Madly."

Thing. Of. Beauty.

(Also, I had forgotten how much I adore Cake and those ridiculous horns. I am a total sucker for ridiculous horns.)

I have been thoroughly convinced that I ought to print my novel out before I try to rewrite it. I have not yet actually printed it out, mostly from hesitating before the sheer size of the undertaking. I have to figure out when no one is likely to be using the printer for about an hour, haul my ream of paper down there... Probably the sensible solution would be to nip down and print out a chapter at a time or so, so of course I haven't even considered that option.

In the meantime, while I fret about printing out my novel, I decided I ought to work on something else, and promptly didn't do anything on anything for a week and a half. This morning, though, I was thinking about what the sort-of novel-in-progress needs, and came to a Realization. So that was good. I may actually be able to take it somewhere now.

(If you're curious, the solution was more cute girls.)

Unrelatedly, I got to come home for Thanksgiving. I like this for many reasons, one of which is that the dining service at college, though awesome and amazing, does not do me baked goods and my parents do. The weather cooperatively become November-like just for me on Wednesday when I flew in. Today it was nice out again, though, so I walked to Uptown and purchased presents, and that is all I am going to say about that. (Also a book which I probably will just keep for myself. I clearly should have left more room in my suitcase flying out.)

Now I get a quiet evening, which I might just use to work on the novel-in-progress. Okay, okay, Thanksgiving, holidays, hanging out with my family--but on the other hand, time and a room to myself (I am not sure I am built for constantly sharing space) and all the books I didn't take to college.

(Edited to add, page/word count: currently at 25 pages, 6240 words.)

• 18:46 @idiomagic POLO! (and the pony you rode in on) #
• 18:48 ,@ceffyl1 Stayed in Tucson for Capria-canter in the gale. Ended up in Emerald City (Green Valley--close enough). #
• 19:18 @smoemeth Did you do the cheesecake? (We had prime rib.) #
• 20:57 @smoemeth Do the chicken recipe with the salsa verde, but use turkey. Dead easy. #
• 10:18 Happily staying home with book and critters. And how is YOUR International Buy Nothing Day? #
• 12:18 @700stories You are a good cousin. I hope she listens and thinks about what you say. #
• 12:33 @idiomagic Stay me with flagons, comfort me with cheesecake--yes! #

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A friend of mine lost his wonderful Irish Wolfhound today. His name was Zeke, and our beloved Lily once had a playdate with him. At 16 months old and healthy (before the Addisons hit her), she was the older woman to his already taller 8 months old. He was a little over 6 years old, and he should have lived longer. Because I work with Scotty, his owner (who also bred and hand-raised/trained Edwina Allen Poe and BirdZilla), I occasionally went to Scotty's house, whereupon I was obligated to shower lots of pets on Zeke. Zeke always gave me great and sloppy kisses in return. :-(

The Bears (my brother and sister-in-law) came to stay last weekend. They didn't come with buns, but with tiny cheese-stuffed peppers, marmalade and a banjo (they took the banjo home with them, afterwards). The home team provided the buns.

In between the eating and the sitting up late talking, and the doing the crossword, there were entertainments. We went to a Shetland evening in Gateshead, with writer Ann Cleeves and fiddler Chris Stout: a lovely event because, as as Ann tells in in her blog, the two of them bounce so creatively off each other, Ann putting a musician loosely based on Chris into her novel White Nights and Chris thinking that this character is rather cool, and composing a piece of music that he might play... Afterwards we went for a drink at the Sage, somewhere the Bears hadn't previously been - it's not quite the same as taking them to a gig there, but it's a start.

We went out for a walk in Houghall Woods, and another along the coastal path near Seaham; we went to Hexham, and visited the abbey, and explored the town in the rain. ( And we went to TK Maxx. )

My fridge hasn't been working 100% for quite some time. Sometime last night if finally decided to give up. Of course, at that time, it was stuffed to the gills with Thanksgiving leftovers.

::sigh::

As it was still cool, and everything was cool to the touch, I moved all the food to a neighbor's fridge, and will be very careful before I eat any of it.

I called the dealer that sold me the fridge, got their recommendation for a repair shop (one that's actually factory trained for dealing with my brand of fridge.) Of course, the repair shop is closed until Monday.

I just--ack. Didn't need this.

I keep thinking that in February I'm going to go into debt and tear out everything in my kitchen and redo it. Again. I want a fridge that consistently works and an oven that has an even temperature.

Besides, I need to fix all these things before I sublease my place anyway. . .

I had other ramblings but I'm going to just go with this for now.

I'll bet everyone has left overs. So of course, we're going out to a movie and eating burgers. Tomorrow I'll start inventing new turkey-related foods.

Maybe I just haven't been desperate enough yet, but I can't imagine ever getting up at 4 a.m. to go shopping, or even going anywhere near a mall Thanksgiving weekend. *shudder* If any of you do, 'fess up. ("Fess" was an answer in yesterday's NYT crossword, by the way, in the very context of "'fess up.") What do you get out of it? Are you an adrenaline junkie? Highly competitive? I don't get it.

I do love to shop, though! Allow me to suggest that you make a special effort to shop local as you can. Local First Utah says that even shifting 10% of your gift-buying budget to local businesses can make a big difference for your community. I know that you have lots and lots of books on your shopping list this year, and if you are in Salt Lake you've got two very fun chances to get that taken care of. If you are not in Salt Lake, I'm pretty sure that your city has locally-owned business, too, so check them out.

Monday, November 30th - 6 p.m. @ Sam Weller's (245 S. Main St.)

Weller's is hosting the City Academy Book Fair reception at the store Monday night. I will be there to sign and chat for an hour or so, as will James Dashner. (Oh, by the way, both James and I have books on the Kirkus Best of 2009 list for YA. Now aren't you extra excited?) If you are in SLC and have not been to Sam Weller's, well, I don't know what to say! It is a great store, and if you plan for some extra time to venture downstairs, you might find an old favorite out of print book, or something rare and perfect for someone on your list. And, if you are looking for a particular hard to find title, you can contact them and they'll keep an eye out for you. Follow Sam Weller's on Twitter: www.twitter.com/samwellers

Thursday, December 3rd - 5:30 p.m. @ The King's English (1500 E./1500 S.)

It's The King's English Annual Holiday Party! There will be a passel of local authors there to sign and chat. Including James and me, and if you're tired of us, there will also be Jessica Day George, Pat Bagley, Heather Armstrong (aka Dooce), Emily Wing Smith, and a bunch of others. Personally? I am most excited to meet Sister Dottie! Not only is it a party, it's also a sale. In honor of Buy Local First week, you get 10% off all week. At the party, you get another 10% off! And TKE staff can wrap and ship while you hobnob. Follow TKE on Twitter: www.twitter.com/kingsenglish

A few more shop local holiday gift ideas...

Slowtrain Records recently introduced a CD of the Month Club. This is not like those clubs you joined through the mail when you were in college, where if you forgot to send in a postcard you'd end up with Loverboy's Greatest Hits. No. This is Chris and Anna and staff personally selecting music that they know Slowtrain customers will enjoy. Follow Slowtrain on Twitter: www.twitter.com/slowtrain

A membership to the Salt Lake Film Society makes a great gift and supports The Broadway and Tower independent theaters.

Most of your favorite local restaurants sell gift certificates. We just dined out on a Trio gift certificate the other night. Dellllicious. And, there are a growing number of boutique-y shops around town. I was recently at Nailed, for example, and I had no idea that not only is it a great place for a manicure but that it also has some very cute bags and jewelry and things, and a selection of adorable and affordable gloves.

Remember, even 10% of your budget makes a difference! But you can do more, I bet, without much effort. Here, or in a town near you!

Tonight!!! SHADOW DRAGONS book signing at the Taylor Museum. 5 to 7. Come get your books signed and sketched in at my last signing of the year! (And maybe my last signing...)

Have realized I haven't been getting most of my LJ comment alerts. Just caught up on them.

Has anyone seen Ink? Its a recent film just out on DVD about a father and daughter caught up in a struggle between the dream and nightmare world.

Its an okay at best film that is being "marketed" intriguingly. The film seems to have been ripped to the file sharring sites and as a result many people have been finding it which is building a huge buzz for the film---or rather thats what the filmmakers will want to to think.

In all honesty the filmmakers seem to have put their own film on to a torrent site and then are marketing it by thanking the pirates for getting their film seen by more and more people (I'm guessing the filmmakers did it themselves because this whole thing has the feel of it). Forgive me for thinking its a scam but everything I read positive about the film has the same sort of language. There are 46 comments on IMDB and a fair number of them all seem to be fake recommendations (its the only film these people have reviewed), all talking about how wonderful the film is, how great the look is ("its unlike anything you've ever seen before") and saying very little about the film other than a well rehearsed series of platitudes. The promotional material also lists someone at Ain't it Cool who is not one of the main people and I'm guessing is a reader who posted.(not a good sign- more so since the film companies got slammed for posting recommendations a couple years back for quoting positive IMDB reviews)

If it all works its going to be a case of the filmmakers pulling themselves up by their own boot straps.

As I said the film is just okay. It tries but it never fully comes together despite some really good bits and clever ideas. the film feels like a large number of other low budget independent films, which I'm guessing is why the film feels unlike what many other people are used to since they don't watch the same crap I do.

If anyone has seen this I'd be curious what you think.

TDayDinner was shared with friends. Friends friends (meaning Quakers). Friends friends who are also vegans. Ergo, not a turkey in sight. There was, however,

Carnival squash (a bit like bicolor acorn, only as intensely flavored as butternut) stuffed with a pilaf of wild rice and hazelnuts
Cornbread (made with maple syrup, soy milk, and brown rice flour instead of wheat 'cause Dave it wheat-intolerant
Yams
Mashed potatoes with herbs
Steamed zuccini
Apple crisp with pecan/cinnamon/oat topping
Dave's homemade "Zardoz" wine

All of it very yummy. We talked for about 5 hours on everything from African art and the joys of museums to hypochondria to the worst movies we'd ever seen to whether it's important our particular genetic makeup lives on to amazing stories about Aunt Frances in the Yukon.

Got up this morning, did 30 minutes of mat Pilates, made oatmeal (all right, with apple and dried apricot bits and vanilla). Hope to do some writing and work on the upcoming Book View Cafe posts and chapters of Hastur Lord./i>

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/2009/11/27/cbs-gets-it-one-reporter-reforms-her-helicopter-ways/

http://freerangekids.wordpress.com/?p=2050

Wow!! Thank you, CBS Early Show, reporter Kelly Wallace, and producer Joe Long, for this fantastic piece on the end o’ the line for helicopter parents! It even features The Simpsons! (Homer and Bart, that is, not Jessica and Ashlee.) Voila!
 

Had a lovely Thanksgiving with Jeff and David and the pets yesterday. Ate local free-range turkey and tates from the co-op and homemade sourdough and other stuff. :: polite belch :: Ended the evening watching an episode of the Smothers Brothers Show from 1968. Forty years ago. Okay, some things were clearly different -- Steve Martin and George Carlin (RIP) had dark hair, the Doors performed, and their brief history of the U.S. ended with Richard Nixon. But their skit about cultural and political problems? Could've aired today. :: sigh ::

Off for a family outing to Tucson and the zoo (armadillo!!!) and some other errands, and maybe a movie.

OK, so I went to Fiji, and it was frickin’ freezing It wouldn’t be so bad except that my expectations were so very different. We planned to launch our journey to Australia and New Zealand with two days baking in the Fijian sun, recovering from jet lag. Instead, we departed the airport in a fine rain that continued all day, off and on. Gamely, I plastered on sunscreen and headed out to the beach in my shorts and tee shirt. Gale force winds blew in from the sea, sending surf crashing up over the reef a short distance out. Gray clouds boiled over the horizon as resort staffers nailed up storm shutters. Before long, I had layered on a hoodie and eventually gave up and put on long pants again. It was more Lake Superior than the South Pacific.
Apparently the sun shines here sometimes. I have travel brochures to prove it.
Mind, this is nothing new for me. I’m used to traveling places and having people say, “Sheesh! This is unusual. I’ve never seen it snow this time of year!” Or, “Thank God the drought has broken.” I once went tent camping in the Painted Desert—a places that gets only 7 inches of rain a year. Two inches came down the night we camped—causing a massive hatching of Mormon crickets. As they scratched against the tent, trying to get in, I was sure we were being invaded by an army of half-drowned scorpions.
Looking for unusual weather? Tired of the same old same old? Invite me to come visit.

I’m liking this day after Thanksgiving. The extra plates and cups are clean and seem are even put away. The refrigerator holds leftover turkey and vegetables and a spare bowl of my friend Jess’s chai butternut soup which tastes a bit like dessert – oh, vanilla! She said she made this and the pumpkin pie she brought from the actual tough-skinned vegetables, which made her feel more grateful.

The house is clean by my standards, and the novel I’ve worked on for a few years, with some projects in-between, is kind of done. My standards for that are of course higher than for how much is too much dog hair on the couch. I’m still fiddling with words and dreaming my way into some scenes, but there is a beginning, a middle, and end, something someone besides me might read and comprehend.

Thanksgiving is over and I know there’s a new season right ahead. I got out some cookie recipes and my clippers to start cutting greens. I’m making those lists. And I’m thinking how very little actually becomes “over.” I can move past a holiday on the calendar and put my manuscript in an envelope, but now I’m using the day to look back and peek ahead, and feeling happy for this peaceful time that’s just between.



Harvest wreath made by my husband, Peter

My story "Pirate Solutions" is up on Escape Pod. It's told in four parts, and has four readers who completely nailed it. Yar!

http://escapepod.org/2009/11/26/ep226-pirate-solutions/

Hey, it's "black Friday" and is everyone shopping, or avoiding shopping, or sleeping or eating or visiting or reading or basically enjoying a day off? Maybe you're at work??? In any case, thanks for dropping in. Today is our last section about "balance," and it's about finding balance in critique groups.

On a side note, allow me to explain that for whatever reason, the TB blog this week won't let me do my nice big sized fonts, my different colored fonts, nothing. This explains the rather basic look of my posts the last few days. Can I figure out what happened? Nope. But I will.

Enjoy your weekend and come back Monday!








"To avoid criticism, do nothing, say nothing, and be nothing."
---Elbert Hubbard


"One should never criticize his own work except in a fresh and hopeful mood. The self-criticism of a tired mind is suicide."
---Charles Horton Cooley





CRITIQUE GROUPS



When you first began writing, I'm going to guess that at some point, someone, or some book, or some conference, encouraged you to find a critique group. Right?


And let's say you found one. And you've had a few visits. And your head is reeling.

If your "starting out" experience with critique groups is like mine, you will find tons of advice not just from the members of the group, but from people telling you HOW to utilize your group.

And once again we find conflicting advice, and we find ourselves struggling. It's not supposed to be a 'struggle,' we tell ourselves. According to the writing world at large, it's supposed to be as easy as:

RULES FOR A GROUP

1. Invite members of all genres, to gain as many varied perspectives as possible.

2. Invite members that only write the same kind of stuff you do, because they will be more in tune with the sensibilities behind your work, and give better advice.

3. Listen to everyone with an open mind and do not be afraid to act on a piece of advice, even if it seems radical. This is how you find solutions you would never find alone. This is the point of the group.

4. Listen to everyone with an open mind but for heaven's sake, hang on to your vision and maintain your focus. Take the advice that makes sense and reject all else (with a smile.) Don't let someone lead you astray.

5. When you are critiquing someone else, be honest. They are here because they WANT to improve and they are not afraid of criticism. (If they are, they do not belong in the group.) Be honest, be kind, but be direct. Don't be afraid to say it all, including that perfect scene you have dreamed up that will solve his/her dry third act. If necessary, jot down a rough outline for them.

6. When critiquing someone else, edit yourself. Do not, repeat, DO NOT, TELL someone else HOW they should rewrite their story. You can offer an opinion like, "The climax is a bit understated, can you oomph it?" But you must never tell them the WAY to oomph the climax is to have Bruce discover Jennifer with the chauffeur, reach for a gun, then in the ensuing frenzy, shots break out and there is an unexpected murder. That is far too specific and dishonors the writer. Just give them a general nudge.

7. Use the time to also socialize and eat!

8. Don't eat. Don't socialize. Stay focused and keep it about writing.


There. Now you have all the rules of being part of a critique group.

Wait!

Hold on. Some of those items kind of.....clash....don't they? Do you see a few contradictions???

Well, I have heard all of the above, and I have had to sort out for myself how to participate in a critique group, and how to get the most from my peers. And I'm guessing you are too.

1. For me, I want to mix writing and socializing. And cookies. Lots of cookies.

2. I want to help someone make their book the best it can be, but I do NOT want to tell them exactly how to write it. I keep my extremely detailed scenarios to myself. UNLESS they are asked for.

3. I want everyone to be brutally honest with my work. (But at first, I couldn't handle it.) I do not mind if someone tells me how exactly I should structure the first act or rewrite that critical scene. I am able to take what I want and ignore the rest (with a smile.) (But at first, I was not able to.)

4. I prefer a group of children's writers. I have nothing against adult fiction, non-fiction, mysteries, sci-fi, whatever. But I want peers who have read all the same books I have, who are in tune with the same readers I am, and who are struggling with many of the same specific genre-related issues I am. And besides, how can I, with a straight face, offer criticism to someone creating a sci-fi book? Or adult non-fiction? I don't read those kind of books. And it seems to me a critique group should be about surrounding yourself with people who are knowledgeable in YOUR field. It would be a discredit to them and to me.

So I guess what I'm saying, once again, is.....it's about balance. And finding what works for you. And staying true to it. With no apologies.

Good luck.

And I'd love to hear what works for YOU in critique groups, and what doesn't. Please feel free to send in your comments!

Pre-heat oven to 180 C.

Put paper cases in muffin tins.

Melt 2 oz (50 g) butter or marge.

Put 6 oz sugar in a mixing bowl.

Whisk in the melted butter, then add 2 eggs, a slosh of vanilla (teaspoon) and half a pint of milk, while continuing to whisk well.

Fold in 6 oz SR flour.

Pour a little batter into each of the 12 cases. Then put four (fresh or frozen, I used frozen because it is November) raspberries on top of the batter in the cases. Then put a spoonful of batter on top of the raspberries.

Melt 2 ounces of butter or marge. Add a handful of oats, a handful of ground hazelnuts and all the brown sugar that's left... probably a tablespoon or so of brown sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon until it's like crumble. Distribute this over the tops of the muffins. (It's this faffing about with a topping that makes things muffins instead of cakelings as far as I can see. Well, also the milk.) If you were organized you could make it first and have it ready to put on.

Bake in the top of the oven for just over 20 minutes until done.

Having so little fat, these won't keep long. Make them on occasions when they don't need to. I made 12 and there's one left, which is going in rysmiel's lunch. I'd have predicted four or five left.

This started off with a couple of online recipes, and then wandered far away when I realised the first one hadn't done their conversions properly and that I hadn't enough milk for the second one and just thought "OK, I have six ounces of sugar in a bowl and 2 ounces of melted butter, the oven is on, let's just improvise." The bit with putting the raspberries in the middle of the batter was from the second one, and definitely worth it, if fiddly -- you end up with the raspberries totally surrounded by cake in a layer, not at the bottom, but the muffins well risen. The topping was from a banana muffin recipe I found online ages ago, well sort of, as I vaguely remembered it, except for the hazelnuts, which I just thought of yesterday. The results were so deeply appreciated that I can see that these are something Z is going to want again, which is why I'm writing it down, because otherwise there's no way I'll remember.

For earlier installments, click here

To: Gina Minetti
From: Justin Landau
Subject: Write-up

Dear Gina,

I’ve tried to be as complete as possible. Let me know if you think it needs more details or if something isn’t clear.

I don’t know how the pilot managed to land the helicopter on the lotus on the ruby lake. I was sure we were all in for a horrific, fiery death, but after about five tries, he actually brought it down on the platform.

It felt like we were in an iron foundry. The air was shimmering with the heat; it hurt to breathe. The captain from the state security services told us to wait by the helicopter and started walking down the platform. At the far end, I could just about make out a little structure, built like one of the old coastal shrines (totally incongruous for the mountains, but then, I don’t think anyone ever thought the government was genuinely attempting to accommodate mountain religious traditions when it built this prison).

“I’m not staying here,” M-- said. “The security guys K-- wrote to me about were always horrible. I’m afraid that man might hurt her.” She ran after the captain, and I followed, fearing not so much what the captain might do as that K-- might already be dead, conditions being what they were, and wondering how to handle the situation if that turned out to be the case. ( Read more... )

oh dining room, all clean and spiffed up for the holidays, thank you for helping me see that accumulating piles and then sifting through them, discarding most of the clutter but finding the sepia toned prints to go with the vintage linen tablecloth which leads to moving the bookcase just so,
oh,
is my process,
and why would it be any different in writing, anyway,
and even if it is sometimes slow -- messy -- and hard to show other people,
until the end,
when the room comes together in a way that I hadn't quite imagined but hoped was possible
and I can invite everyone in.

we'll celebrate with pie