okayI've received word "Galápagos" pleases the editor for whom I wrote it, which is good news, indeed. I'll post details as soon as I can. Actually, I have an awful lot of short fiction coming out in anthologies the next year or so, and I'll post a list soon, with relevant release dates.
Next up, "The Alchemist's Daughter," for Sirenia Digest #43. This is the dragon story I've promised Sonya. And after that, I have a story I need to get written for a sword-and-sorcery anthology. And that's the bulk of June, right there.
My copies of the ARCs (advance reading copies) for The Red Tree arrived yesterday. I was annoyed to see that errors that made it into the ms. after the CEM, because of file conversion problems, are in the ARCs, but I assume reviewers are understanding about this sort of thing. That's why it says "Uncorrected Proofs" right across the top of the front cover. As the books release nears, I'm looking into a number of ways to promote this novel that I've not tried before. A "book trailer," for instance. Essentially, a 30-second promotional video, rather like a movie trailer. We're still examining the feasibility of this option, but it's looking good, so I think that'll happen.
Sunday was a bizarre sort of Lost Day. There was especially bad insomnia Saturday night and Sunday morning, and the sun was up before I found sleep. I spent all of Sunday in a sort of fog, wasting time on Facebook and listening to Spooky read to me. There was no chance of my writing. Yesterday, I just needed to get out of the house, and we made it down to Warwick, and Wakefield, and, finally, Narragansett. But the day was chilly (lowish '60s), first of June or no, and by late afternoon there were clouds. We got dinner at Iggy's, because I still had a free "birthday club" meal coming. Here are a couple of photos taken in Wakefield yesterday, from the bridge, near Main Street, that spans the Saugatucket River. The water was high, and a bit rough, and we only spotted one turtle, as it surfaced for air. We watched it a moment, before it plunged back into the tea-colored depths.
On the bridge, view to the southwest, towards the dam.
On the bridge, view to the northeast.
Also, it's rare that I buy jewelery and baubles and such. Very rare. But a couple of weeks ago, Spooky found a one-of-a-kind clockwork pentagram pendant on Etsy (below; the stone is opalite), and my will failed me. It arrived yesterday, also. I understand it's what all the steampunk witches will be wearing this summer...
Postscript (1:17 p.m.): People are constantly asking for "how do I get published" advice, I am constantly declining to offer it. Mostly because there's not a lot of truly useful advice to offer that isn't obvious. But I will make this suggestion, even though it's also obvious. If you have begun an online journal or MySpace page to promote your work, you really need to display the name you'll be publishing under somewhere prominent. Really. Trust me on this. Readers won't pick it up via osmosis.