A Day in the Life of

This post covers many updates: reading at Convergence, an update on the physical, and an update on the writing. I intend to get back to a little folklore this week. The troll story is about to take a turn into a little Mexican folklore, and I’ve promised for a while to write that up. I also need to give you guys some summaries of the Mahabharata.

Since this got long, I’ll spare you and put in a cut. If you’re interested, you know where to go. If you’re not, well, this is much more skim-able.

***

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Old Nick and the Work Study Student

Nick found the right door. He knocked. The door was opened by a boy, not a woman. Nick smiled toothily. He extended a hand to the boy. “Stan,” he said. The boy was one of his, although the woman he was looking for didn’t know it. It was important that the people at Luther didn’t know it either. They might unjustly try to convert the boy. So much for freedom of religion in the new world.

“Mr. Scratch,” said Stan. He clamped Nick’s hand with a hearty sideways handshake. “We salute you, our half-inflated dark lord.”?

“I appreciate the film reference. We get so few.” Nick glanced at the office door. “Is Dr. Quartz here?”

“She has an 8 o’clock.”

“You’re working for her now?” said Nick.

“God bless financial aid. Oops.”

Nick winced and shook his head. “Watch your language, young man.”

“Sorry.”

“So,” said Nick, “has she done anything peculiar? Noticed anything? Talked to anyone?”

“Not yet. I’ll keep my eyes open. Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Yup. Messages from the Invisible Court. Visiting troll garrisons. Any unusual elven behavior.”

“Should I let her know you stopped by?”

“Absolutely. And tell her I’ll stop by again. Just mention my name. She’s clever enough to figure me out eventually.” He leaned in conspiratorially. “Although you probably shouldn’t let on you know anything about, you know, me.” He flipped out a business card.

Stan took it. “I don’t know anything.”

Nick wiggled his fingers in parting, and closed the door to Dr. Quartz’s office. As he walked away, Nick glanced at his watch. He probably had time today to go see trolls.

***

Word count meter. Remember, scenes, not words of part one.

12 / 55 words. 22% done!

Review?

Drollerie has authorized me to give a free copy of Needles and Bones to a lucky individual that would review the anthology and post that review on their website/journal/blog/billboard.

Does that sound like you? If it does, just let me know. First come, first served.

AND if you need a review copy for a website that does such things, I am happy to hook you up with the right contact.

You know you want to read this. You know you want to.

***

Meanwhile, our heroine has to go out and run errands for the Season of the Toe. I hope to do some writing later. Chapter 3’s order keeps morphing, but I think I almost have it sussed out.

Catherine

Drollerie Releases; Needles and Bones

Let me share the latest Drollerie releases with you.

You might notice that you can now purchase Needles and Bones. Here’s the description:

This collection of poems and short fiction by a double handful of brilliant and creative artists-with-words is a collection of myth. It begins gently, with fairy tales, but its tendrils of surreality spread from the stories of our childhood, into our adult world, and on to places beyond our own. We visit heaven, and hell, and places we might never imagine peopled by creatures who are only sometimes like us.

Deena Fisher has created a beautiful cover for Needles and Bones, and the Drollerie staff has worked very hard on all these projects. I hope you enjoy the stories.

Catherine

Self-Confidence: Reflections on Maggie Stiefvater’s Post

It’s been a busy week.

No kidding, right? You caught my work rant. You know.

What this means, however, is that I got just a tad behind in my internet life. I’m working on the big catchup right now while waiting for the man to come out of surgery.

Here’s something that you should be aware of if you are not: Maggie Stievater’s post on self-confidence.. Hmmm, I see from the 109 comments currently that you may already be aware.

What I like about reading Maggie’s journal is her positive, upbeat optimistic nature. There are several things in her post that I could relate to, and rather than write a treatise in her comments, it’s made me think a little bit more.

I am a good writer. If I make that statement without qualification, you could assume my ego is huge, but if I qualify it, you might decide I am merely self-confident.

Continue reading “Self-Confidence: Reflections on Maggie Stiefvater’s Post”

In the Waiting Room

My plea for time aid appears to have worked. No sooner did I write yesterday’s memo, than an hour of time became available in my day, combined with the hiring of a teacher I needed for Monday. Thank you, oh great and anonymous donor!

Right now, Bryon is having the toe joint on his right foot literally cut down to size. He has a choice (read–once they see what it looks like, they’ll choose) of cleaning or fusing. Cleaning is our best case scenario, but both docs who’ve looked at the x-ray film keep saying he’s going to get it fused.

Um. I have met my weekly goal of completing chapter 2 on the troll story. Currently I’m at about 33 pages, give or take, and this interesting rewrite word count statistic…

7777 / 45000 words. 17% done!

More relevant?

10 / 54 words. 19% done!

Part one is chugging along.

In other news, I’m enjoying Vernor Vinge’s Deepness in the Sky. Who’d have thunk it?

Catherine

Time Aid

This is in no way meant to make fun of those of you with a real and substantial need for money. And while this post is only semi-serious, there is a real point buried in here somewhere. About writing. Of course, it sounds (and is!) a work rant at the same time, so this might not be an entry you want to explore.

It does not diminish my request for you to send me your spare time.

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Adolescent Trolls and UF Novels

Well, who’s to say last night wasn’t fated. This part of the long scene I just wrote came out pretty well, and I doubt I would have written it if I’d tried it last night.

***

“What’d you want to go to Chicago for?” said David. “The big city is a really bad place for us.”

“Why?”

“We’re trolls, right? We’re linked to nature. Being made of rock and ice and stuff like that, we are nature. Cities aren’t natural.”

“Sure they are,” said Hild.

“And we’re magic,” continued David. “Cities have lots of iron. Doesn’t iron block out magic?”

“You don’t know anything,” said Hild.

“It’s those books,” said Grant.

“What books?”

Grant smiled indulgently, which he knew Hild hated. “She reads all these books about tough faeries in the city.”

“As if!” snorted David.

Grant made a helpless gesture. “Leather coat wearing Irish pretty faeries who seduce mortal women and bring them into worlds of dangerous magic.”

“Shut up,” said Hild, a note of warning in her voice.

David laughed. “Oh yeah. ‘Don’t eat the food in my land, Mortal Spitfire, or you will be doomed to stay, unless you kick the crap out of the bad guy faeries.’”

“You guys don’t know anything,” said Hild.

“I know enough. Trolls not good enough for you, Hildi? Want to take one of the elves to the prom?” David smile crooked into smarmy.

Hild slugged him in the arm.

Grant sighed. “Hild has just proven to you that she can take any troll, and that you won’t be her prom date.”

“Damn straight,” said Hild.

***

Happy Wednesday!

Catherine

Threadbare and Worn Through

You win this round, work day. You whittled me down with removing my husband, letting me know a friend’s cat had died, and making me dance to a lot of last minute music, but when you utterly collapsed at the end of the day, hitting me with three things at once, and making me take work home, well, my stuffing came out.

It was my plan to have two glorious days to myself this week. Now each day features a stop at Kirkwood, and I count myself lucky that I don’t have to spend the entire day there in both cases.

See? You too can be a supervisor, and find out the real meaning of the buck stops here.

Well. When I’m not at work tomorrow, I’ll be writing. Constant like. I’ll also be meeting with an artist buddy to see about commissioning some freebies to give kids when I do public readings and appearances with Hulk Hercules.

***

So the post isn’t a total fist shaking against tiredness, you might find the 2010 Mindbridge Book group list of interest. I’ve also posted the remainder of this year for kicks. And we had one spare choice, so we have one month of 2011. Anathem? Better start reading now!

One tired sundae with an extra ladle of exhausted sauce!

Catherine

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