Productivity Lifting, Chance of Headache

July 25, again

Here I sit, newly showered and wearing Heather's bathrobe. Mmm. I have something of a headache, but the hot water has served to mute the pain. I just got off the phone with my ladylove, a rather long conversation in which I was inordinately cranky. Not at her-- I just had a headache, and some tiredness, and some residual background stress about moving, job ending, and so on. I hope I didn't bother her too badly. I haven't mentioned it overmuch here, but I'm incredibly excited about moving in with her. I've never lived with a lover before (for more than a couple months at a time, anyway, with the understanding that duration was limited). I suppose I should be scared, but I'm not, really. There'll doubtless be bumps, but we'll get over them. I'm happy.

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I wrote a little over 3,000 words on a new story tonight. The story came to me more-or-less fully formed yesterday. I wrote 1200 words tonight, then got up to go to the coffee shop. Before I even put my shoes on, though, I got to thinking about the next scene, so I sat down and wrote that. Then I wrote another scene. Eventually I extricated myself and went to Pergolesi, but the story didn't let go of me, so I made a few notes about the remainder of the story. I should be able to finish it tomorrow (I hope, I hope), and I'll be sending it out to my beloved first readers, with a desperate plea for titling help. I don't know what to call this thing. Heather calls it "the bulldozer story." There probably won't be an actual scene with a bulldozer, but that's okay. It's as good a nombre de trabajo as any other, I suppose. At Pergolesi I read a bit of Tepper's Gate to Women's Country, which I'm liking well enough.

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I sent out a couple of stories today (they come back to me, I send them back again). Had a rejection from Strange Horizons that did not come as a great surprise; it was a very weird story that even I don't really understand. So, rather than re-write it, I'm going to submit it to publications that see crypticness as a sign of literary excellence. I also sent a chapters-synopsis-et cetera package to an agent who responded favorably to my query. Cross your fingers for me, y'all. It'd be nice to have an agent, though I'm not getting my hopes up.

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Let's see. Marissa is trying to find obscure books and having little luck, alas. I, on the other hand, have been seeking very broad general-interest books, and I've had much success (surprise!). I bought The Mammoth Book of the West today. My knowledge of the West is deep but narrow, and I wanted more of an overview. In general I like the Mammoth books; they're only about an inch deep, but they're broad, and they tend to have good bibliographic references. I've already learned fascinating things about social mores and neat details about guns, and I've only read a few bits here and there in the book. This'll be good. Marzi (protag of Rangergirl) knows all this stuff, so I should, too-- at least well enough to fake it. It's funny... I really love the history of the "Old West," but I've never really dug the Western sub-genre all that much. I mean, there are specific books and movies that I like, but that's because of general excellence, not because they're Westerns (or "oaters" as B-Movie Westerns were once called). Still, I'll talk about Pearl Hart and rainmakers and Bleeding Kansas and enclosure movements all night long, if anybody wants to listen...

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Moving preparations proceed. I'm somewhat packed, and I've taken care of some businessy stuff-- closing accounts and so forth. I have enough money to survive through September, if I stretch it, though of course I'd like to get a job before then. That dreaded Job Goblin again... I've sent out some résumés, and I'm checking out the job boards, but if any of you know of particular admin/writing/proofreading/copyediting/technicalish writing gigs in Oakland or environs, drop me a line at timpratt@sff.net.

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I got license plates for my car today. I feel so damned Californian.

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Okay, I'm going to post this, and go to sleep, which is the best headache remedy I know about. Until next time...