Genius, Loci
August 8
I'm listening to Loveline on the radio. I don't know what's up with me. I could go over to the stereo and search for some music, but actually, the low background murmuring is kind of soothing...
No mail today, alas. Nothing of real portent to relate, writing-wise. Except that I decided to quit my writing group, after attending exactly one meeting. Not because of anything wrong with the people-- they're a very talented bunch-- but just because of geographical circumstances. They meet in Mountain View. When I lived in Santa Cruz, that was a 20-minute drive that took place mostly after rush hour. Now it's over an hour drive at least, in the thick of rush hour, on the nasty snarly beast that is I-880. I went back and forth on this issue for a while, thinking that I could stand to face the traffic one lousy day a month-- it's not like they meet every week or anything. But I finally decided I don't want to spend a minimum of two hours driving every time I meet with the group. I mean, the criticism would be nice, but I have some wonderful first readers already, when I feel I need them... and it's not like I need a writing group to kick me in the ass and make me write; producing new words is not my problem... mostly I wanted the group for the social aspect. And I can find that via other avenues; there's good writers roundabout, wanting to spend time with me...
I sent the final chapters of Genius to some beloved readers (I know I still need to send the whole book to you, Amily; it's coming soon). It's nice to be done with that, though I'm sure they'll find hundreds of continuity errors I'll have to fix...
Work was good again today. I read (and formatted) some beautiful appreciations of Poul Anderson. He was a well-loved man. I also got to read (and edit and format) an interview with Ursula Le Guin, which was really cool (Ursula says don't over-polish! Writing needs to be a little rough! Ursula says genre distinctions are silly! There's no such thing as realism! Hurrah!). I really like what I'm doing, and time goes by really quickly, and I don't wear shoes in the office, and it rules.
(I'm sure I'll stop enthusing about the job at some point...)
I came home to Heather, and we had salmon with soy-honey and wasabi! Mmm! So fishfully good! And also wine, and cream soda, and sweet iced tea (which I made, much to Heather's delight)... Good sensory fun. We watched Buffy (what shall I do when we run out of Buffy tapes?) and snuggled and did other nice things. A good passage-of-the-night. Around 10 o'clock we went our separate ways to get some work done, and so I worked on various organizational, bill-paying and writerly things. Now Heather's upstairs with me, reading on my futon as I write this...
And that's all.
