Mosquito Meat
July 1
I did manage to roll the odometer over before the end of the month; since I haven't written at all today, the word count over there is where I stood at the end of June. I guess 100K in 5 months isn't bad... but I'd like to do better than that in the next five months.
There are a couple of writerly bits up for your amusement and edification, now. My review of Coraline by Neil Gaiman is up at Strange Horizons. I think it's a decent review, and it's a good example of the kind of ramble I'm likely to do if I don't have a strict word limit on my reviews... I like having a little more elbow room to digress and enthuse. I also like having the opportunity to cover a major book...
And, for your fictional enjoyment, my story "Dancing Shoes" is online at Champagne Shivers. It's a vicious little fairy tale, and it's the lead story, which means the editor thought highly of it... I hope you do, too.
I got some nice things in the mail today. My very own review copy of The Red Church by Scott Nicholson. I probably can't review it for A Certain Magazine -- reviewing books by friends is discouraged, though I think I'm quite capable of objectivity -- but if anyone knows of any other (preferably paying, even if they don't pay much) venues that might be interested in a review of a marvelous Appalachian horror story, let me know... Also got contracts for "My Night with Aphrodite" from Asimov's (actually, the cover letter said the poem had been chosen for Analog, though the contracts say Asimov's, as they should; it's just funny, since that poem is about as far from Analogish as you can get; a fantasy about the goddess of love! Not an asteroid or an engineer anywhere!). Also received a (comparatively lengthy) rejection from Gordon at F&SF for a novelette; he said nice things about it, but felt it was too long and too mainstreamish. Ah, well; off it goes elsewhere.
Yesterday was fairly pleasant. I got up early and wrote a couple thousand words on Rangergirl. Heather and I went to Barney's for lunch, and sat out in the rear courtyard ("We're dining al fresco," I said, "which I think means we're naked."). Incredibly pleasant. Then we browsed in Spectator Books (I bought a copy of Best American Poetry from 1990 used for $4!), and the comic store, where I exerted tremendous strength of will and didn't buy anything. We strolled back home in a leisurely way and spent the afternoon lounging about, reading and such. Heather worked in the garden. We frolicked, and hung out, and watched a Buffy re-run (but one I'd never seen!) on TV.
Sleepy-time was pretty hellish, unfortunately. It was very hot, and hard to sleep, even lying above the covers with the windows open. About 3:30 a.m. I woke to find lights on and Heather up and about. The mosquitoes, which had been buzzing around us all night, had finally driven her beyond her ability to endure. She'd gone looking for Off, been unable to find any, logged onto the internet (mmmm, the internet) and found an herbal mosquito-repellant made of rosemary and lemon balm. So she whipped some up and anointed herself while I tried to sleep. Her repellant worked, but all the mosquitoes commenced dining on me (usually, if there's anyone else around to bite, mosquitoes don't bite me; my mom's the same way, only more so. I think mosquitoes would rather bite a tomato than my mother). Around 5 a.m. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I retreated to sleep on the couch, which was mosquito-free. All of which made for a very broken, uncomfortable, not-very-restful night.
Went to work today, and kept quite busy. Came home, did some dishes, then hung out with Heather. We had dinner, then went shopping for mosquito netting. Now the bed is draped and looks rather like something out of fairyland, and the netting should deter the nasty little vampires. One hopes.
Words written since February 1, 2002: 100,280
Words written since last entry: 2,300
Mangos. Bobby loves mangos.
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