busyOn Tuesday, I also started my "revision" of Threshold for the mass-market paperback edition. It's not a true revision. I'd never do that. I was entirely too annoyed by Stephen King's revision of The Stand in the early 1990s to actually revise Threshold, even though I'd certainly write it differently, were I to write it now. There's a lot of stuff about the prose I'd do differently. But that's what new books are for. Anyway, I made it through the prologue ("In the Garden of Proserpine"). Also, my comp copies of the chapbook A Little Damned Book of Days arrived yesterday, along with signature sheets for The Merewife, and I'm very pleased with the collage I did for the chapbook's cover. Oh, and the signature sheets for the hardback edition of Subterranean #2 arrived day before yesterday. Things have been busy around here.
Halloween weather has finally come to Atlanta. Spooky and I did a long walk around Freedom Park Tuesday evening, and there was an absolutely spectacular sunset, the city skyline silhouetted against grey-purple clouds with fiery pink-red underbellies. The neighborhood is awash in pumpkins, including a surprising number of the weird white ones that I've taken to calling "Dancy pumpkins." Yesterday, Spooky carved two of our seven pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, and she's gonna carve a third today. I think she's going to try to make a cat jack-o'-lantern. At least, she said that she was. The air is cold and mostly dry, and the leaves are beiginning to change and fall.
I found a short but pleasing review of Threshold in a Spanish blog yesterday. I'm just fluent enough in Spanish that I could make sense of it: El Umbral del libro por Caitlin R. Kiernan es gran. Ella es un maestro del idioma inglés y es un poeta asombroso. Las palabras son suavizan. El cuento es un cuento del horror y es muy original. Yo recomiendo. Unlike the Finnish article, which someone's going to have to translate for me. Also, Colleen Mondor, who did such a marvelous review of To Charles Fort, With Love for Bookslut, has nice things to say in her blog about The Five of Cups (scoll down to "Vampires, Jesuits and A Mighty Big Wind").
I've been getting a fair bit of paleo' reading done. The September 2005 issue of the Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology arrived a week or so ago. I started on p. 623 with "A new specimen of Neuquensaurus australis , a Late Cretaceous saltasaurine titanosaur from north Patagonia." I saw a documentary Monday night (I think), on the discovery of the basal sauropod Tazoudasaurus naimi in the Lower Jurassic of Morocco, which led me to seek out the type description of the Middle Jurassic Moroccan sauropod, Atlasaurus imelakei.
And I'm slowly approaching the end of Final Fantasy X. Last night, I beat some crazy machina that Seymour sent after Yuna, then fought for Kimahri Ronso's honour, then scaled Mt. Gagazet, only to discover I have to battle yet another incarnation of frelling Seymour.
Meanwhile, the poll continues. As of this morning, we have 68 people who've said they want to subscribe, but I'm going to leave this poll open for while. Now it's time to start talking with artists and web gurus and suchlike to solve the technical aspects of actually making this project happen. Oh, and while I do very much appreciate the concern of those of you who've expressed worry that I might not have time to take this project on, don't worry — I do. If I didn't, I wouldn't even be suggesting it. I really think it's going to be something drad, and I'm looking forward to making it happen. If you're interested, please vote in the poll or drop me an e-mail at lowredmail@mac.com or check out the "Vignette Subscription" thread on the phorum. Thanks!