I listened to it again recently. Man, I forgot how great this album is.

So say you're not a vegan at all. I'm guessing a fair percentage of y'all on my flist aren't. How much pro vegan ranting could you take before you throw a story against the wall? I know my limit for socialism and communism appears to be half a page, you asshole ThigMOO, I can't believe I read that book THAT FAR IN before I realised it was a filthpot of propaganda shite. And if I don't want preachery in my speculative fiction, I suspect the rest of the world doesn't.

My mermaid story seems to be about (so I've discovered) them creating a cyborg-thing that wants to like, make friends. And it starts making deep sea creatures rise to the surface and explode hilariously. So it's going to have vegan stuff in it in the Do No Harm and suchlike way and my little vegan is going to wailywail his way into killing it.

It's Valery fiction, too. Heterosexual Valery fiction. OMG.

God I love writing him. I mean I don't think I've ever had a character before where I've been EXCITED to write about him. When I'm feeling bored sometimes I just doodle out random scenes for him where he goes to the supermarket or washes his hair or whatever.

avepasifika still needs love. Will you love it?

Achey this morning. Even a very nice four-mile hike out in the Fort Bayard National Wildlife Refuge (hardly any wildlife to be seen...) hasn't worked out th ekinks. The reason is that I was using unfamiliar muscles yesterday; the DIY muscles. Hammering, sawing, drilling, screwing (yes, thank you.... stop sniggering now...). What was I up to? Well, Robin and I were constructing Mount Luchita. Luchita is one of those cats that constantly wants to get high. She'll look wistfully up at any shelf, and was adept at clambering the bookcase in the bedroom to reach the pot-plant at the top (to the great discomfiture of the plant, and the greater discomfiture of the pot, which didn't survive the five-foot jump). As it happened, we received in the post a catalogue, with the emphasis on cat - forty-plus pages of cat accessories (addressed to previous tenant, who must have been some kind of cat-lover too). These included some marvellous-looking cat playhouses - platforms at multiple levels, sisal-wrapped supports, attached toys, etc. Very nice, but mostly in the $200-and-up range.

Mount Luchita may not look quite as stylish - there's hardly a plumb piece of wood in the whole structure, because I utterly SUCK at DIY - but given that it was made from scrap carpet, scrap chipboard and mostly scrap timber, it cost about $30 plus a day's work. And it does the job. There will be pictures if I manage to have the camera and the playful kittehs in the same room at the same time.

I've been making a list of ideas and projects I want to incorporate for my haunt next year. Nothing outrageous, but small projects I can work on through out the year. I also have a list of hardware and tools I will need, but this is the list of the actual haunt stuff so far:

Witch Jars (I can use Mason jars for this. The older the better.)

A table with a white sheet, bloody handprints and maybe a face print in the center. On the table will be a static meat cleaver, skull, and cutting board slopped with blood. The table will be behind a rope so ToTs can't touch it. In fact, we will either gate or rope off the main yard decorations like this

An empty hangman's noose swinging in the wind from one of our trees. Ideally, I would like to corpse a torso and hang that, but that is likely a project for the future and not on the agenda for next year (corpsing a torso, the hangman's noose I can do easily enough)

Mummy (easily done, foam boards cut and glued together with paper, wrapped in olive or khaki cloth)

I so want to Corpse a Skeleton (this would be the Big Project)

There's a field next about a quarter mile from our house. Farmer Brown grows corn there. I have to check with him and see if he will let me have some of his cornstalks for scenery after he harvests

A heart in a frying pan for the table scenery; blood splattered utensils and plates

Tombstones; graveyard, lights at the far corners of the yard to throw their shadows upon the house

A LOT more spider webs and silk. Also thinking about gathering dead leaves and strewing them around the driveway for that extra creepy look

The soundtrack for my haunt: Kammerheit's Star Wheel playing in the background (this will really scare the hell out of the trick or treaters and add a TON of atmosphere to the haunt)

A green floodlamp in the garage, the garage door up about eight inches with the green light spilling out with fog; the light can also be seen from the three windows in the garage washing over the front lawn and decorations there

A red light in the upstairs bedroom so it can be seen through the window from the outside, and see if I can work out a lightweight cheesecloth "ghost" to spin around on the fan in the bedroom and hang it so it can at least be glimpsed from the outside.

Blue lights for the porch lights

I may dress up next year, haven't decided. I'd like to work something in with my old karate gi and I have an old Samurai sword I can peace-tie, no problem there

...............

I know it seems like a lot, but most of this is pretty small potatoes. Aside from one or two big projects, most are easily done and quite inexpensive. It's not the cost that makes a haunt, it's the atmosphere. I learned that this year. We are thinking the best time to buy a lot of the hardware is in the spring when places like Home Depot and whatnot have their sales. Other things can be gotten from Goodwill and the like. Frankly, the cheaper and rattier, the better it will look in the semi-dark. You can rarely go wrong with this sort of thing because there is no right or wrong way to set this up.

I feel like I'm being a bit of a dramallama even posting this, but, explanation!

I've removed a few people from my flist/circle over the past month.

I don't use DW/LJ as a reading tool to read journals of interest (I have google reader for that, and in fact read some LJs that way that I don't have friended. It's a place for me to whine about my life in excruciating detail, read other people doing the same and maintain (mostly but not exclusively real life) friendships. I don't entirely feel comfortable exposing my life, even with the use of filters, to people who have a fundamentally different purpose in mind (eg write mainly about writing or fandom - can I direct you to my writing blog) or who I knew once but frankly have limited or no interaction with these days.

There is absolutely no ill feeling, just a recognition that in some cases exposing my life in this way just doesn't feel appropriate.

This entry was originally posted at http://callie.dreamwidth.org/316908.html. Please comment there using OpenID.

Huh. Apparently some magazines still want hardcopy submissions. Go figure, haha. So I've got to catch up on that, and then some email ones.

Well, that's the plan, anyway. I'll get the hardcopy stuff prepared so I can mail it off tomorrow. (Seriously? Stamps? *sigh*)

I wish the weather was better. I miss sitting on the back porch and working from there. I prefer being outside.

I am seriously thinking about writing a prequel to this Nano novel. So many things are popping up with this story, things about my main character that could be answered better in another book. And it would have to be a prequel, for the same reasons I have to write a prequel for Visions. There has to be a good reason why these things are following my MC, and not just because she’s my MC either.

So, here is a short synopsis of what’s happened in the second quarter;

During the meeting, Louise notices a woman in the background watching her. Later, she gets a strange set of text messages and learns it’s from the same person. This person believes that something odd is going on, and is frustrated that no one seems to be taking this seriously. She asks Louise for help, and Louise agrees.

Getting questions answered takes her to the home of the spinster Council elder Lenora Wilson. At first she’s nice to Louise, but when the younger woman starts asking really hard questions, her true feelings come out.
There is no time to argue, as a new apparition suddenly appears, a massive hole within the fabric of reality itself, and in an accident, Lenora is killed.

Later that night, after a cryptic talk with her twin daughters, Louise is visited by Lenora, who apologises and give Louise directions to a group of people who can help her learn what’s going on.

And this is where I’ve stopped. Saturday and today (Sunday) are a complete write off due to Sithboy’s sleep-over, and Monday is a school holiday, so I’ll be lucky to get a full day’s worth of writing in. That will make me behind by THREE DAYS!

I am hella amused by this School Library Journal article, which highlights Little, Brown's upcoming books. Including mine, yay!

This is the write up of GUARDIAN OF THE DEAD:

In any case, this marked a trend that is slowly coming out on the YA side of things for whatever reason: Serial killers. Serial killers are definitely emerging in more YA fiction in 2010. This particular book takes place in New Zealand where a kick-ass strong female girl character and her Maori friend discover there's a serial killer out there (The Eye Slasher who's called that because... well, it's kind of self-explanatory).

Not... quite. I suspect there was some heavy spoiler avoidance going on here; there are indeed serial killings, but GUARDIAN is a paranormal novel, rather than a straight thriller.

However, apparently many people find the American cover totally creepy, which is awesome, although I agree that disintegrating doll heads have a definite edge!

Anyway, check the article out - there are a ton of really awesome books on their way, including the phenomenal looking SISTERS RED, SORTA LIKE A ROCK STAR, and THE PRINCE OF MIST.

I hath tweeted:

• 20:43 Oh my. Very long day - much snow removal and building accomplished. The stairwell is half done! #
• 20:52 Now that I've stopped moving, my arms are starting to hurt... #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

The Star decided to outsource its editing jobs. One of the editors struck back by editing a memo from the publisher, which ran with rivers of red ink...

Never before had Percy numbered violence, unpredictability or tenacity amongst his favoured traits in women. However, when they came in a package which included thirteen-point-six agreeable orifices, he was willing to reconsider his priorities.



I worry, sometimes, about myself.

I'm writing the mermaid story again. It's turning into a rant about veganism and transhumanism, which is oddly enough, what I got my fucking degree in.

I like redesigning the future world. I love cultural appropriation; either appropriating it meself or writing about it, so in my future worlds Australia is dominated by Southern Asian and sub-Saharan African cultures; New Zealand is completely and irreversibly twisted by Americana. I like the idea of a Japan that's kind of fucked itself into its most crazy media, a la Tokyo Gore Police; I like an England that's self-fucked itself into a self conscious, anachronistic parody of itself. I do India fully multicultural by choice and the west coast of Africa multicultural by necessity. I do cities in rural China and a failing cultural identity. I do the Philippines as the unofficial mediators between East and West. My superpowers are India, China, Australia and Nigeria.

I put all scientific discovery and research - well, all the fun stuff, cloning, etc - on the west coast of Africa, around the Seyschelles and Madagascar, as well as throughout the Pacific islands. I do English as the lingua franca of the world. I do exploding new languages and Creoles. I do veganism. I do a scientific, not social solution to global warming. I do no solution to over population. I do nationalist social democracy in the countries that function. I do socialism, personality cults and theocracy in the ones that don't. I do the spread of the Euro - renamed and repackaged as appropriate - across Africa and then Asia and Oceania.

I do international airspace too, and transient lawless cities that form and reform over the oceans.

I do garbage island resalvaged as a continent.

I don't lose the fish. I love fish. :(

I love art that uses the natural qualities of a medium to create something interesting. These tree spirits are carved into trees.

This is your final reminder that subscriptions on the website are scheduled to go up, as of tomorrow. If you'd like to buy a subscription to Realms of Fantasy or extend your subscription at the old rate, make a point to do it today. Again, subscriptions can be purchased online here.

My Google-fu has failed me.

I am looking for the creator of this image of a destroyed Seattle.

I cannot find out anything about it. On the bottom right corner, it has the word "Scratched" and a second word I cannot make out. I think the second might be "technology" but I'm not sure.

I want to compliment the creator on the image.

I want to buy a hard copy print of it.

Let's make it a contest: The first person who can get me in contact with the creator/owner of this image, will win a copy of my post apocalyptic anthology GRANTS PASS and my sincere appreciation.

NOTE: The creator has been found. It is Scott Shepard, a Seattle local. Thank you.

My Google-fu has failed me.

I am looking for the creator of this image of a destroyed Seattle.

I cannot find out anything about it. On the bottom right corner, it has the word "Scratched" and a second word I cannot make out. I think the second might be "technology" but I'm not sure.

I want to compliment the creator on the image.

I want to buy a hard copy print of it.

Let's make it a contest: The first person who can get me in contact with the creator/owner of this image, will win a copy of my post apocalyptic anthology GRANTS PASS and my sincere appreciation.


NOTE: The creator has been found. Thank you.

The cousins sing side
by side in the sun-washed reeds--
crocodiles stand guard

I have 3 ARCs to give away in exchange for a blog review. One is already claimed. I have 2 more left. I will ship anywhere in the USA.


If anyone wants one please email me at zs.sophy@gmail.com with your snail mail address.



Cover Art by Edward R. Norden

Introduction by Z.S. Adani and Eric T. Reynolds

No Jubjub Birds Tonight by Sara Genge

The Embians by K.D. Wentworth

Ambassador by Thoraiya Dyer

Edge of the World by Jonathan Shipley

Games by Caren Gussoff

The Hangborn by Fredrick Obermeyer

One Awake in All the World by Robert T. Jeschonek

Alienation by Katherine Sparrow

Dark Rendezvous by Simon Petrie

Monuments of Flesh and Stone by Mike Resnick

Hope by Michael A. Burstein

Watching by Sandra McDonald

Encountering Evie by Sherry D. Ramsey

Memento Mori by Sue Blalock

The Gingerbread Man by James Gunn

The Angel of Mars by Michael Barretta

When You Visit the Magoebaskloof Hotel Be Certain Not to Miss the

Samango Monkeys by Elizabeth Bear

Rubber Monkeys by Kenneth Mark Hoover

Jade Flower by C.E. Grayson

The Light Stones by Erin E. Stocks

Mars Needs Baby Seals by Lawrence M. Schoen

Coming from Hadley Rille Books in 2010


ONE MORE LEFT

ALL GONE