I think that I am writing postcards to myself.

Increasingly, I find even the prospect of self-promotion to be distasteful. I know that I have to do it. All writers have to do it. Even the high-priced, classy writers with genuine pimps usually find it necessary to stoop to the self-promotion that's the only option for literary crack whores like me. But I feel less and less motivated to do so, have less and less interest in doing so, and, as I said, find it increasingly distasteful.

Yesterday, I wrote 1,093 of that story that isn't titled "Pilgrims and Thunder Lizards." I need to finish it today, then get Sirenia Digest #85 out to subscribers, and then begin the next Alabaster: Boxcar Tales script.

Which reminds me, yesterday...no, wait...day before yesterday, I received copies of Dark Horse Presents #19, which includes the second chapter of Boxcar Tales. It's just that I didn't open the package until yesterday. Hence the confusion.

Boredom gets us into trouble. Indeed, a good percentage of the world's greatest evils can likely be traced back to boredom. For example, in a fit of boredom I declared that this year I will read fifty books. Yeah, I know. I'm a fucking writer. Accepted wisdom is that writers are insanely voracious readers. Right. Sure, some writers are. Many writers aren't. Many writers never much liked to read. Others, like me, have pretty much had their love of reading destroyed by twenty years of publishing. Or thirty years. Or forty. Whatever. Last year, I probably read about fifteen books, and maybe five were novels (including a third reading of The Lord of the Rings). So, yeah. This year I'm aiming for fifty; there will be a list posted at year's end (because we're such a wretchedly exhibitionist/voyeuristic lot).

Have I mentioned the monotonously vile weather?

We've been playing a good bit of Rift again, having fun with the Storm Legion expansion. Spooky started playing around with the "private dimension" feature, much of which has pretty much been lifted from Second Life (but something good should come of SL), and now we have a spot in the Necropolis (in Seratos). I'd put out a call for role-players, but my readers, I have learned, are not gamers. And if they are, they're not role-players. But, then, few gamers are.

Also, Spooky got a peak at the Definace MMO night before last, as part of a server-capacity test. I admit that I'm disappointed. Turns out, it's an "over-the-shoulder" third-person shooter (with an emphasis on weapons/gear). Not my cup of tea. It's impossible to imagine it being used for RP, and I have <zero interest in "cooperative" play. As a game that is simply a game, it might not be bad. On the one hand, pretty decent character creation, but, on the other, why waste time creating a character whose face you'll hardly ever see? So, yeah. I remain excited about the series, but my interest in the game is waning. It's a shame Trion didn't show more ambition this time (though it might not have been Trion's call). What a waste of a world. But this likely gets back to the SFC still trying to rope in a young male audience and believing a fp shooter will be more popular among that demographic. What a sad waste of a world.