Marauding Race

August 13

12:04 a.m.

It's late, but not too late, for me-- I'm finally back into a nice rhythm, staying up until 1 or 2, getting up at or around 8 a.m. Right now I have chai tea and I'm wearing my robe and feeling bright and excited about worlds and words.

In just a few minutes I'm going to write the first scene of Rangergirl. It's right here in my head, beautiful and crystalline-- let's hope it doesn't get too mangled when I put it onto the page. I'm already playing the Old 97's, which is the main soundtrack to Rangergirl (with doses of Aimee Mann and Neutral Milk Hotel thrown into the mix). Heather wanted me to wait until after midnight to write the first scene, so that she can start her novel (Forest for the Trees) Monday night-- thus, we will have started our books on the same day.

Sweet, hmm?

We had Ethiopian food at the Star of Ethiope (that's actually not the name of the restaurant, nor is it anything resembling that name, but the name of the restaurant is complicated and has apostrophes and such, so I just call it the Star of Ethiope). Marissa had high hopes for witty and brilliant conversation... Hee. At one point Heather and Marissa left to go to the bathroom, and the rest of us (me, Mark, David, and Timprov) instantly fell silent. The following conversation ensued (slightly paraphrased because of my poor memory):

David: "Well, we know what was keeping this conversation going."

Me: "We can't let them know this happened. We have to talk."

Mark: "So. How about those Vikings?"

Me: "They were a marauding race."

Timprov: "Good boats."

I had a really lovely time with them, and I enjoyed the food greatly-- I like eating with my fingers.

Heather and I farewelled everyone shortly after dinner, intending to leap into work. She'd written the first chunk of our fantasy collab, so it was my turn. We wound up sprawling on the bed, and finally agreed that being lazy was actually a better plan. So we went to the video store and rented Cruel Intentions (good, and quite sexy in bits, but I like Dangerous Liasons better; nobody out-Malkoviches John Malkovich). Then we went to Fenton's and got some ice cream to go. Yum.

I'm going to work on Rangergirl now, though. Like M'ris, I'm very excited about the new project. And doesn't her book sound cool as hell? Giant crows! Little wooden fish! Whoo! I can't wait to read it, it sounds exactly like the kind of book I love to read...

Just as Rangergirl is the kind I love to write.

Ooh, this is fun. Here we go.

1:03 a.m.

1600 words written! First scene done! Hurrah! I managed to set up for half-a-dozen things that will pay off later, and I'm very happy with how the scene went. Yummy. And wacky speculative stuff happens very early on, which is nice. The fun has begun.

I'm for bed, now.