Love & Letters

December 9

About 1:30 a.m. last night, on my last e-mail check, I discovered that I'd sold a poem to Strange Horizons -- "Wolfways"! I'm immensely fond of that poem; it's weird, and not at all like my usual stuff (in other words, it isn't narrative). Happy day.

We took our holiday photo at work today, to run in the January issue of A Certain Magazine. It took hours. We had to move furniture, put up the Xmas tree, strew toys around, and then pose and mug and grin through two rolls of film. There are some cute photos, though. I didn't wear red or green, as I was supposed to, and as a result I was dressed in a bright-red Hawaiian shirt from my boss's closet. Somehow I don't think I pull off that look as successfully as he does... the officebaby, who is 2 years old now, was terribly cranky, running around and wailing and shouting "no." As a result, she isn't in many of the pictures, which is too bad, since she was all dressed-up...

Erin has chosen some of my poems for her new chapbook, Love: Subversive, Sensual, and Erotic Poems and Art. It will feature 7 of her poems, and 7 of mine, and some lovely art, and should be available in mid-January. Needless to say, it will be a perfect Valentine's gift for boys and girls of all persuasions. In addition to a few of my reprints -- "My Night with Aphrodite", "Holly Grove", "First Time on My Knees", and "Cupid's Arrows" -- it will include several previously unpublished pieces: "Put Asunder" (a rather disturbing fantasy about making love come true), and "Eight Transformations" and "Dream Sketches" (a pair of loosely related fantasy-tinged poems about a woman I loved intermittently a few years ago). Some of Erin's best poems are included, too, and I've glimpsed the layout already -- it should be a beautiful collection, and I'm absolutely delighted that she asked me to provide the "male perspective." I think our poems go together well, too. Very complementary.

Tonight Heather and I began the long process of mailing out our holiday chapbooks to friends and family. We got thirty of them ready to go tonight, and have about that many, maybe a few more, left to do. It's exciting, sending our words out into the world, and making the list of people we want to send them to reminds us of how lucky we are to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

A nice day, really. It began rainy and gray, which I rather liked, actually -- a nice change from the relentless sunshine. But coffee made me happy, and work wasn't bad, and it was a pleasant evening at home, all and all. And it's my birthday on Thursday, so what's not to like?

Words written since February 1, 2002: 188,400

Words written since last entry:
0

Buy Floodwater via PayPal! $5, includes shipping. Or send a check payable to Heather Shaw to the PO Box below.