• Mood: pretty good
• Music: System of a Down, "Spiders"

the calm between storms

I did a respectable 1,404 words yesterday and finished the first scene of Chapter Five (which is, incidentally, titled "Angell Street"). So, it was a very good writing day. I think I'm going to like this chapter, which means that perhaps it won't be as much of a chore as the last one. It's good to be away from the violence and bluster of Soldier and her cohorts for a bit. But they are converging, these two narrative threads, each being driven ever nearer the other.

There was a lot of other stuff yesterday. A conversation with Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press about Creative Commons. A long e-mail from Peter Straub that I must make time this morning answer properly, possibly after my morning walk (I take those now), before I begin writing. E-mail from Vince about the art for Frog Toes and Tentacles, which he's inking now. And the hunt for a photo of Charles Fort, and permission to reprint it on the dedication page of To Charles Fort, With Love, continues.

Speaking of which, the cover design that's up at Subterranean Press isn't the final design, and the one that's up with the auction is the final one, but not a very good photo, so here's the final front cover (it's a little dark, but you get the idea):



Rasputina fans should recognize the image. Anyway, I've also been reading Anansi Boys, because Neil was kind enough to send me the ms. a couple of weeks back. So far, it's brilliant. I think it's actually better than American Gods. I'll say more when I've finished. Anything else? Four more episodes of The Sopranos last night, and I began playing God of War, which may not be the best game I've ever played (though the graphics are gorgeous), but at least it's not dull. The weather is bright and sunny today, so far. We got some rain and thunderstorms off Arlene the last few days, and it's nice to see things drying out. As for Micheal Jackson, other than to say that I was in Junkman's Daughter at L5P when one of the girls working there announced the verdict over the PA, I have no opinion.

Sophie's doing fine. She's doing so fine, in fact, that she decided, yesterday, to take up urban spelunking and attempted to scale the inside of a chimney from one of the fire places. Spooky stopped her, but not before Sophie had managed to cover herself in soot. She walked about all night, sooty and grumpy, as if it were somehow our fault she looked like a chimbley sweep.

Oh, and because I am an eBay whore, thank you, I should say that the latest auctions continue. Only about three days left on this round, and this copy of "Alabaster" may well be the last we auction. Please help me keep the platypus off the streets...

P.S. (1:13 p.m.) — A number of people are having difficulty getting the cover image to load. Sorry. I'm not sure what's up. It seems to work on Safari, but not on IE (personal observation). Anyway, I'll try to fix it this evening.