Rosebuds From Heaven

November 13

Lovelies!

More congratulations are in order for a member of my Clarion class-- Tom Gerencer sold a story, "A Taste of Damsel", to (yes) Realms of Fantasy. Tom is a master of the funny, and his stories are often deceptively light, the jokes concealing the deep strata of serious concerns.

In me news, my essay "Fresh Graves" is going to appear in the February 2002 HWA Newsletter, along with my poem "Broken, Entered." It's a guest entry in Marge Simon's "Blood and Spades" Column. I may reprint the essay on this site, so that non HWA members can read it...

Received my copies of Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet today, hurrah! Also payment, which is double what I expected. Still not lots, but it's a welcome gift from heaven, and it comes at a good time, as Old Man Poverty is sharpening his killin' stick against my ribs this week.

Otherwise, not much to report. Yesterday was a workaday time; worked, went to the gym with Heather, did laundry. Bleah. We did have some good sushi, and snuggle time, later, though, so all was not lost. I've been reading lots of lovely stuff, too-- "Mr. Dark's Carnival" by Glen Hirshberg is wonderful, and sparked an idea for a Hallowe'en story of my own that I started writing yesterday. Also very good: Susanna Clarke's "Mr. Simonelli, or The Fairy Widower." I didn't like "The Saltimbanques" by Dowling very much, really... it was nice to see something set in Australia instead of the more ubiquitous US and English settings, and the story was well enough told, but it didn't grab my attention like "Mr. Dark's" did. Oh, "Down Here in the Garden" by Tia V. Travis was really great, too, though I'm not entirely clear why it was nominated for a World Fantasy Award... it's a horror story, and a good one, but if there was any fantasy element at all I missed it...

Take care, all...