okayHaving to decline the Istanbul offer left me a little off balance. Monday and Tuesday I couldn't write. I answered email (lots of email) and drew monster doodles. Oh, yeah. I posted photos on Tuesday. Anyway, on Tuesday I went to the Athenaeum and drew the rest of the monster doodles there. It was good, being surrounded by the reassuring, antiquated mustiness of the Athenaeum. I'm a musty old library. If I had a soul, my soul would be a musty old library crossed with a musty old museum of natural history. Anyway, I sat there among century-old books on Africa and the "Holy Lands," catching up for eBay obligations. By the way, there are great auctions up right now. Have a look, please and thank you. But, work wise, that was about it: email and monster doodles. Oh, and, ironically, I signed the contracts for the Turkish edition of The Drowning Girl: A Memoir and sent them back to Manhattan on Tuesday.
Oh, and while I'm on the subject, Amazon selected The Drowning Girl: A Memoir for this week's "Select Kindle 25." Sales spiked. It'll only last a few days, those high numbers, I know that. But still. Also, I have very mixed feelings about this, given my hatred for the Kindle and for ebooks in general. But...sales. Then again, sales spikes always lead to a flood of shitty "reviews" by people who shouldn't have read the book to begin with. People for whom the book was not written.
For example, this one posted two days ago:
Totally depressing and disturbing book. There was nothing I liked about this read. Went from normal to insane from page to page. No understanding of a horrific sickness was presented, just the dark side always. I'm not even giving this away. I'm throwing it in the trash..
Um...yeah. I forgot to put in the rainbow, candy sparkles, pink cupcake, unicorns, and gold stars part of schizophrenia. I won't even touch "Went from normal to insane from page to page." Fucking moron.
But, yeah. "Kindle Select 25." I hate when things that ought to please me don't. It actually happens with alarming frequency.
And, hey, people: "facepalm" IS NOT A WORD. No, I'm serious. It is, possibly, the most moronic portmanteau the web has spawned. It actually makes my skin crawl. The Free Online Dictionary says: "A facepalm is a popular online expression referring to the physical gesture of striking one's own face in a display of exasperation. In Internet discussions, the term is used as an expression of embarrassment, frustration, disbelief, disgust or general woe." But do you see the problem with this? According to this description, a "facepalm" can signify at least six rather different emotions/states of mind. So, instead of "facepalming," why not take the extra three seconds to type out what you actually mean? A thing is not better just because it's quicker and simpler. In fact, usually just the opposite. M'kay?
Yesterday, I finally climbed back into the saddle and wrote 1,132 words on Chapter Six of Red Delicious. I'm hoping it's smooth sailing from here until THE END.
The platypus is giving me that look. If you read this, remember: Keep watching the skies.
Eyes on Blue,
Aunt Beast