I actually had every intention of there being a Part Two to yesterday's entry, "Halloween the 2nd: Part One." But then I was struck with one of my very rare but excruciating migraines, and many things fell by the way side. Not everything, though, because I get no sick days until March, I think. Too many tales to be told. Too many deadlines to meet.

Dead. Lines.

A little deconstruction is good for the soul. But only a little.

I did manage to find THE END of "Excerpt from The Memoirs of a Martian Demirep" yesterday. It only required of me another 1,403 words, which brings the total for that "vignette" to 2,883 words. I quite like it, though the last few paragraphs came out through that hammerfall of pain. I was amazed to find out later that they actually make sense. All day I was transposing words and letters. I do think the end of the piece still needs just a little work, that there was something it was meant to do that it did not quite accomplish. So, Tales from the Woeful Platypus would be finished now, except I discovered yesterday that I'd forgotten there needs to be one more vignette, which will be exclusive to the limited edition. Once it's written, today and tomorrow, and once I've written the afterword and attended to a few more details, it will be finished. Yesterday, Bill Schafer at Subterranean Press showed me the copy for the website, the little snatch of text that will appear on the ordering page describing the book, and I approved it, so I assume subpress will begin taking preorders on TftWP soon. I considered, yesterday afternoon, changing the title to Scheherazade Redux or something else less whimsical, but Bill likes the original title, and as Harlan reminded last month, I'm too serious. A little whimsy helps the medicine go down and all that. The word count on Tales from the Woeful Platypus presently stands at 21,014.

This last vignette will involve mummification. Right now, that's all I know. Spooky and I have a sort of game we've developed to help me find ideas for the vignettes. I ask her for a word, just one word, and either impulsively or upon reflection she gives me one. Last night, I asked her for a word, and she gave me mummification, which was one I'd not yet done. So, thank you Spooky. Other words she's given me in the last week or two have included sand and plants and doll.

Friday night, I loaned Jim a copy of the Daighter of Hounds ARC, which he is now reading, and last night he sent me the following haikuesque e-mail, which I rather adore:

I started Daughter of Hounds. It's good. Really, really good.

Ghouls are cooler than vampires.

It's really, really good.

Also, regarding "At the Praying Windows," stsisyphus asked, Since no one else has mentioned it, why is there a link to the Only Revolutions website in the text of "At the Praying Windows"? And yeah, I was wondering when someone would bring that up. Short answer, I am in love with the book and could not resist.

Also, I've learned from Bill Schafer at subpress that Alabaster is doing better, saleswise, that any of my previous subpress books. Since almost all of my subpress books have sold out, I assume this means Alabaster is selling out even faster. Regardless, the news pleases me greatly, and I am grateful to Bill for believing in this book for all the years it took me to write the thing.

Also, my thanks to the reader who passed along the link to The Neo-Symbolist Photography of John Santerineross. This artist is new to me, but it's beautiful, beautiful stuff, and you should have a good long look.

Right. The words are screaming my name. Also, I need to get to the Woodruff Library at Emory today, to do some research, which means getting dressed and leaving the house and all that stuff and nonsense, so I probably ought to get to work...