Sharp Words

With the economic situation being what it is, we won’t be giving or getting a lot of gifts this Christmas, but I’m feeling Christmasier than I have in a long time. Maybe because we won’t be giving or getting a lot of gifts. Instead of spending money, we’re spending time.

For the first time in several years, we have a Christmas Tree. It’s not a live one–the one and only time we had a live one, I was still vacuuming little needles out of the crevices in the floor in June–no, our tree is a fake we got on after Christmas sale a few years back. Last week, my sister came over, and we fired up the Christmas tunes on Pandora and made gingerbread cookies, and a gingerbread house, and decorated the tree.

So, anyway, I’m all aglow with the Christmas spirit. I don’t know how long it will last–my guess is it fizzles out around 5pm on the 25th–but it is rather pleasant. Heartwarming, even.  I’ll enjoy this happy holiday haze while it lasts, and use it to wish you a heart-felt, warm-and-fuzzy Merry Christmas.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good write!

So, remember that new novella I mentioned in the last post, like, two minutes ago? Here’s the heads-up, the low down, the, uh, blurb.

Once upon a time there was a scheming, lying tart who cared for nothing but her own beauty, her pleasures, and her shoe collection. Please, do not decide to hate her just yet, for she is the heroine and narrator of our tale. She is the delightfully wicked Lady Catriona, who will, before this story ends, lose all, gain all, make a friend, and find true love. Oh, and somewhere in the middle she gets turned into a cat.

The story is one you may think you’ve heard before. It’s the story of a hapless miller’s son and a clever cat with a fetish for fine footwear. It’s the story of Puss-in-Boots—but don’t you dare call her Puss. That name is far too ripe for ribald puns. The lady prefers you call her

Cat

Thanks to school and work, I haven’t posted in forever.  I have some free time now, and have used it to write a novella. More on that later. I just wanted to break the blogging ice. First post in 11 months. woo hoo!

Today I saw something that I never believed I’d see in my lifetime, and that my father never believed he’d see in his. Maybe the inauguration of President Obama didn’t change the world, but it changed my world. It challenged the scope of my vision and changed the shape of the future I would let myself imagine.

The word hope has been thrown around a lot over the last couple years–so much so that it sometimes feels trite–but what else do you call this feeling? What else do you call it when your cynicism is wiped away, and the perilous world suddenly seems full of possibility?

Hope. I think I’m hopeful.

I want to write a round-up report to tell about how awesome everyone I met at conference is, and to post pics, and all that. But, unfortunately, I am still on the road with SmartAss.  Which is not to say there is anything unfortunate about being on the road with him. You know it must be true love when the road trips rock. Anyway, next week I’ll be home and stationary and back at my regular sized keyboard (the laptop kb bugs). I’ll make with the conference pics, and some pics of the beautiful, beautiful Pacific Northwest (including Powell’s City of Books in Portland, OR — squee!)

…saying, “There was an earthquake? Huh. Didn’t notice it. I was writing.”

I’m already in California. Which makes my announcement that I will soon be headed to the RWA conference in San Francisco a little less dramatic. It certainly deprives me of a great blog post title, because I refuse–refuse!–to reference “I left my heart in San Francisco.” On the other hand, three cheers for commuter flights! So, anyway, Yippee! I’m going to a conference. Yay! I may even see La Nora in person!

hearts & butterflies,

b

P.S.  I’ll be posting the final installment of “Terra Obscura” on Tuesday. (Sorry about the lack of post this week, I miscalculated and started the run a week early.)

I have always considered my ability to read while sitting in a moving vehicle to be one of the greater blessings in my life. Certainly, it has saved my sanity on many long car trip. Now, I’m facing a trip of about 14 hours each way. Looking on the bright side, I can say the trip may give me a chance to finally achieve my lifelong dream of seeing the World’s (3rd) Largest Fire Hydrant in person. Also, it should yield some great reading and writing time. The only problem is: What should I read?

I already have Anne Aguirre’s Wanderlust and Shiloh Walker’s Through the Veil on my list, but that still leaves me 3-4 books short. Please, please, please comment with your recomendations for sci-fi, fantasy, romance or urban fantasy–my sanity is on the line here.

I’m around, but busy, tired and uninspired–uninspired, at least when it comes to email and blogging. The writing, though, is going pretty well. And my math class is starting to make sense. Which is good, because the final is only 3 weeks away! If I pass, you’d better believe I’ll be blogging about it.

The best birthday presents are things you never expected. For example, this very strange birthday link from the lovely and talented Kate R. (a.k.a. Summer Devon)
There are also a couple of fortuitous events that just happened to happen on my birthday. The first was the Best.Sale.Ever! It’s like this: The Macy’s in Pasadena is housed in a historic building (which, in LA, means it’s like 60 years old. Los Angeles Architecture years are like dog years.). So, because they want to bring the building back to its former glory, the very astute execs at Macy’s decided to clear the entire store to the bare walls, and embark on a six-month renovation plan. What did this mean for me? It meant at least 80% off shoes!

In a way, I feel my shopping life has peaked. Never again will I encounter so magnificent a sale. Never again will I buy a pair of adorably impractical $125 patent-leather peep-toe platform stilettos for the low, low price of $10.78. I wish I could post pics, but my desktop computer is still out of commission.

The other nice thing that happened today was this shout-out for Ember from Jenny Rappaport, an agent with L. Perkins Agency, on the company blog, LIT SOUP. Thanks, Jenny!