Pleasant Upheavals of Various Sorts

January 31

This one will be short and scattered, since it's closing in on 1 a.m. and I should really get some sleep.

Heather's sick! She stayed home today (and had an interesting interaction with our landpeople, which she may recount in her journal; it wouldn't be as weird/disturbing/funny secondhand, so I leave it to her). With careful administration of tylenol and codeine-filled cough syrup, she managed to be quite spry this evening, all things considered, and we had a fairly frolicsome time... I hope she gets better; sick Heathers make me sad.

Here's a few of the things I've been reading lately; you know, to keep you occupied while I'm steadfastly not updating:

Greg Van Eekhout. Greg's a cool guy; I wish he were local! His entries run toward the short and the funny. And read his stories, too; they're good.

Gary Conner. Gary is the editor of Twilight Showcase, and he has a blog called "Splattered Grey Matter, With Blood & Bone". Hey, he's a horror writer. But it's a lovely journal, actually; substantial, meaty entries.

I've finally gotten around to reading Elizabeth Hand's novella "Chip Crockett's Christmas Carol" (I know, it's only 13 months old), and it's awesome. Maybe the best thing I've read on Sci Fiction, and that's saying something. I'm looking forward to reading her "Cleopatra Brimstone" from Redshift, too; it's supposed to be fabulous.

Have I mentioned lately that I really dig novellas? They're a neat form.

Anyway. Lots of stuff going on. I've been organizing magazines at work, which is sorta neat... looking at old issues of Fear ("Interview With the Splat Pack!") and Twilight Zone, looking over the impressive full run of Realms of Fantasy. Discovered cool things I didn't know, like that Asimov's stopped being called Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine on the cover right after the Good Doctor died. Also that my boss was the first ever book reviewer for Asimov's, which is neat (and in that first column he says he won't be doing negative reviews though they're the "easiest and most fun" to write; he wanted to recommend books that are worth spending time and money on. Which wasn't to say that they'd all be raves; there are flawed books that are still worth reading. It's neat; that's still his policy regarding reviews... and the fact that he had that policy at Asimov's sorta punctures the hypothesis that he doesn't do bad reviews because A Certain Magazine is depended on publisher goodwill in the form of ad revenue, as has been suggested by various people, including the editors of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction...)

I got to look at all Heinlein's old magazines, too, since my boss has his collection... it's pretty wacky, in a way, knowing I'm holding a magazine Heinlein read, seeing the address on Bonny Doon road in Santa Cruz, not far from where I used to work. Pieces of history in my hands.

In addition to pulling magazine time in the basement, I've been re-arranging things at work; my boss is in spring-cleaning mode. I'm no longer divided between two offices, but am instead concentrated in the back office. I get a smaller desk, but that's okay; I didn't need all the space I had before. I don't have a Hugo on my desk now, though (pout).

Other stuff... Holly moved in tonight! Hurray! Should be fun. And I sent my bio to Realms. No word yet on when the story will appear...

Birthday party for Heather on Saturday. Whee! And a gathering of writer-types in Berkeley on Sunday, including the lovely and talented Mary Anne. Lots to look forward to. And my bank account is pretty far from empty, and Monday's payday; what could be bad?

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